How do we ensure smart local energy systems work fairly for everyone? This Economic and Social Research Council funded project, led by the University of Sussex with the Centre for Sustainable Energy and in collaboration with King’s College London, examines how households contribute vital but often overlooked work to make smart local energy systems successful.

Through workshops, case studies and policy engagement, the project will develop practical tools and evidence-based recommendations to ensure this work is better understood and valued.

Understanding the invisible work behind energy transitions

Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) – which use digital technology to optimise energy supply, demand and storage at a local level – are increasingly important for our transition to a decentralised, low-carbon energy system.

These systems require significant effort from households to participate. This work can take many forms, from setting up and monitoring smart meters, checking energy usage apps, adjusting consumption based on price signals, or managing usage of different energy assets like solar panels, batteries or heat pumps. Community actors – like community energy groups – are also often involved with supporting households to do this work.

Nonetheless, this everyday effort often goes unrecognised. Most policies and research are focused on the technical elements of these systems, only understanding households as mere users or consumers.

By shining a light on the work that enables household participation, we instead position households and community groups as valuable elements within SLES. If we can better understand this work – and how it is distributed in and between households – we can design better policies and support mechanisms that don’t unfairly burden citizens financially or practically.

Speaking about the project, Nick Stromberg, Project Manager at CSE says:

“This research aligns with CSE’s fairness work, where we engage diverse households and communities in flexibility and understand distributional impacts. Failing to recognise the work households put into the energy transition risks feeding a growing sense of alienation from net zero goals. This research will help us develop approaches that value and fairly reward this crucial work.”

Collaborative research with real communities

The project is structured around four detailed case studies with community energy organisations and households across the UK.

The first phase involves co-design workshops with community groups to develop the research framework. This will be followed by recruitment and in-depth research of the case studies throughout 2025-2026.

The research is enabled by a unique collaboration between CSE and academic partners. Sussex and KCL will lead on developing the theoretical framework and analysis and academic outputs for the project. CSE will leverage its expertise in participatory energy research and community energy to lead the energy labour case studies (using innovative methods like photo diaries) and engage diverse community energy organisations with the project.

Supporting communities and policymakers

The project will share actionable learnings from the research via a series of regular outputs from 2025:

1. Co-design workshops with community groups (May 2025).
2. Blog posts and policy briefs (June 2025, June 2026).
3. Academic papers and conference presentations (late 2025-2027).
4. Community energy resources and training materials (2027).

For those involved or interested in SLES policy and governance, the project will deliver:

• Analysis of the labour contributions underpinning SLES success.
• Evidence of how labour (and its uneven distribution) might limit wider SLES adoption.
• Exploration of governance challenges around ownership and benefit sharing.
• Ground-breaking social scientific theory to the study of just energy transitions.
• Clear recommendations to ensure smart energy systems work fairly for everyone.

The findings will also directly support community energy organisations and wider public audiences by providing:

• Recognition of the vital role of household and community labour in SLES.
• Tools and frameworks for valuing household and community contributions.
• Practical insights for community energy groups planning and implementing projects.

Connect with the project

To find out more or get involved in the research, please contact Nick Stromberg (CSE Project Manager) at nick.stromberg@cse.org.uk.

We will also be posting updates on project progress on this page throughout the research.

You can also read more about the project on the University of Sussex website.

This project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. UKRI project reference: ES/Z503757/1.