Rural Scotland is energy-rich, and hosts much of the UK's energy infrastructure, yet one in four rural households lives in extreme fuel poverty.
To help change this, The Scottish Government invests in retrofitting homes - providing air-source heat pumps and roof top solar. But, these measures don’t always produce bill savings for rural households. In fact, without the right support, household costs can rise.
This Taking Action on Rural Poverty report shows the vital importance of local energy advice in changing this. It shows the outcome of a case study completed in partnership with community energy organisation ALIenergy.
The case studies make a challenging read. They highlight systemic challenges with retrofitted heating systems. Threads run throughout where multiple households are experiencing the same challenges: high energy bills, debt, ongoing stress, and wanting to feel warmer at home. Some are living with no heating or using plug-in electric heaters because costs from their current set-up are just too high.
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