As the national cost of living crisis continues into the New Year, many households across Bristol remain in financial difficulty. Our cost of living support site has a dedicated page signposting citizens in need of help with their energy bills. 

Across Bristol, charities and organisations are stepping up to support citizens in helping with bills and making their homes warmer and more energy efficient. 

Bristol Energy Network (BEN) will be attending the New Monday event at The Galleries in Broadmead on Monday 16 January, between 11am and 2pm, to offer guidance and advice to citizens looking to reduce their energy use and save money. There will also be a dedicated Energy drop-in morning at Easton Community Centre on Tuesday 24 January between 10am and 12pm. 

For people working or volunteering in their communities, BEN will be running free, online ‘Energy Help Desk’ training sessions. If you’re interested in attending, please contact coordinator@bristolenergynetwork.org for dates and times. 

Last month we shared a guest blog from the Centre for Sustainable Energy, who provide support to people experiencing fuel poverty, including advice for what to do if you can’t pay your bills, ideas for how to stay warm for less plus a useful tool that tells you how much electricity common appliances use: what uses watt?  

Older buildings across Bristol are less likely to be insulated, so a great way to make your home warmer is to draughtproof and insulate where possible. The Centre for Sustainable Energy have ideas for lower cost options with their DIY draughtproofing tips, and you can hear from Bristol resident Simon on how they made their home more warm and comfortable in his short film: 

Households aren’t the only ones struggling with rising energy costs; charities, community organisations, and small businesses in Bristol are also feeling the pinch. Bristol Climate Hub have tips for making your community building energy efficient and Bristol Green Capital Partnership have a guide to reducing emissions from energy for businesses.

Making our homes and premises more energy efficient will not only help households and organisations save money but will help reduce Bristol’s carbon emissions. 2022 was the hottest year since records began and many countries across the globe are reporting that this month is their hottest January. We’ve also seen more and more extreme weather events in recent years.  

Overuse of energy is a primary contributor to climate change, so by reducing energy use, we’re all helping Bristol reach its goal to be net zero by 2030. 

Our administration has secured the City Leap partnership, creating 1,000 new jobs and reducing 140,000 tonnes of emissions over its first five years. It will, amongst other things, deliver energy efficiency measures, renewables and decarbonisation projects to the council’s corporate estate reducing our emissions. As part of the project’s initial £424 million investment, energy efficiency and renewable energy measures will be delivered across the council’s social housing. You can find out what else the council are doing to reduce our own energy use on Our climate action on electricity and Our climate action on heat and buildings web pages. 

The council, however, is responsible for around 0.5% of the city’s emissions, meaning we need organisations and homes to play their part. Last year, we launched the Bristol Climate Ask, which encourages Bristol businesses and organisations to declare their ambition to work towards net zero, it’s great to see so many signing up and reporting that many of their measure are proving good for business. 

If you’re not effected by the cost-of-living crisis and would like to help those who are struggling, you can donate to the Share the Warmth appeal (Centre for Sustainable Energy), Bristol Emergency Winter Fuel Fund (Bristol Energy Network) or Donate to the Local Crisis Prevention Fund: Discretionary Giving.