Changes to the energy system will affect us all, requiring us all to make changes to the ways we use energy in our homes. Until now, little was known about how these changes could impact disabled consumers, many of whom have a greater reliance on, and use of energy to meet their specific needs.

There will also be a need for the design and development of products and services to enable the future energy system to work. Because these changes will affect us all, it’s important to make sure they’re designed for everyone. However, two thirds of the disabled consumers we surveyed as part of this research agree that the design of products and services can exclude people from using them.

Building understanding

This report outlines a project that worked with disabled people to understand the ways in which the changing energy system might affect them. It discusses findings from a survey conducted with over 450 people with different disabilities and a series of co-design workshops with disabled consumers.

The workshops generated some ideas for solutions to overcome the problems and issues we identified. The project was a collaboration between Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) as part of their Fair Future programme, and the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC). Between them they have extensive experience of consumer research, design and innovation in the energy sector, and conducting research with disabled consumers. This project is supported by the Energy Redress Fund (administered by the Energy Savings Trust).

Key points

• The changing energy system could create new challenges for disabled consumers, who would struggle to manage without or with restricted access to energy even for short periods of time.
• Expensive peak-time energy prices could disproportionally affect disabled consumers.
• The solutions disabled consumers came up with included planning aids, protected access to energy, price protection and home efficiency improvements.
• Distribution Network Operators (DNOS), energy service providers and energy innovators should engage with as many people as possible, including disabled consumers, when making any changes.