The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) has launched the Energy Choices Tool, a website providing independent advice on smart energy options tailored to individual circumstances1. The tool is dated October 2025 and sits within CSE's Smart & Fair programme1.
The site guides users through practical solutions based on their home, lifestyle and budget, from simple timer plugs to solar panels, with no sales pressure or specific brand recommendations1. It was developed by CSE and funded by National Grid Electricity Distribution and Northern Powergrid, and was co-created with consumers and energy experts1. CSE describes itself as an independent national energy advice charity with 45 years of experience and a trusted software provider1.
The tool is designed to support individual households along with energy advisors, local authorities and community organisations working with households struggling with energy costs or looking to reduce their environmental impact1.
"The Energy Choices Tool is a website that provides independent advice on smart energy options tailored to individual circumstances."
The Smart & Fair programme was established in 2019 with funding from Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks and National Grid Electricity Distribution, and began by researching the capabilities consumers need to participate in and benefit from the smart flexibility energy system1. The Energy Choices Tool's own funding comes from National Grid Electricity Distribution and Northern Powergrid1. The programme page lists the tool's funders as National Grid Electricity Distribution and Northern Powergrid, while the programme's original 2019 funding is attributed to Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks and National Grid Electricity Distribution1.
CSE also runs an Energy Advice Support Network for people who provide energy advice for other organisations, offering networking sessions and training including smart technology, which is free to join1.
Why it matters for households
Smart energy options, from timer plugs to solar panels, are marketed to households on the promise of lower bills or lower emissions, but the range of products and the claims made for them vary widely. An advice route that sets out options against a household's own home, lifestyle and budget, and that states it carries no sales pressure or brand recommendations, addresses a gap between what is sold and what a household can use1.
For a home's energy independence, the practical question is which measures suit the building and how the household uses power, rather than which product is cheapest to buy. The tool is also aimed at the advisors, local authorities and community organisations that households in cost difficulty already turn to1. Households in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can also approach the government-funded and charity advice services covered in this site's getting-started hub, including Home Energy Scotland, Home Energy Advice in England, Home Energy Advice in Wales, NI Energy Advice and National Energy Action.
What happens next
The Smart & Fair programme page lists a Smart & Fair 2024-2026 report dated July 2026, described as bringing together seven years of work and examining what a fair energy transition looks like in practice and where intervention and structural reform are still required1. It also lists a smart energy market review covering January 2025 to March 2026, summarising a biannual webinar series on consumer fairness developments in the smart energy market1. No further launch events or updates to the Energy Choices Tool itself have been reported1.
Sources1 cited
- Smart and Fair - Centre for Sustainable Energy, cse.org.uk