Policy & Grants  ·  Issue 4  ·  Tuesday 1 July 2026

Watts Happening

 

The UK energy newsletter that doesn't work for the industry

The Spark

At Odet Court in Cardiff, a block of flats cut its grid energy use by 60% to 70%. Not through individual solar panels on individual roofs, bought by individual tenants who could afford them. Through one shared system, solar paired with a single central battery, with the savings distributed across every home in the building.

Jack Taylor, Allume Energy's General Manager for Europe, gave that figure to DESNZ when the government launched its community batteries consultation earlier this month. It's a real deployment. It's a residential block. And it's the number that makes the rest of this issue worth reading.

The reason it matters isn't the technology. It's the structure. One asset. Multiple beneficiaries. The economics of scale applied to the part of the energy transition that has, until now, been hardest to reach.

This Week in Watts

The government just opened the door to community batteries. Here's what it means if you own a residential block.

On 4 June 2026, DESNZ launched a formal call for evidence: Assessing the case for community batteries. It closes 30 July. The scope is residential multi-tenant buildings specifically, batteries serving multiple homes in a block of flats, with bill savings distributed directly to each household.

This is not a done deal. It is the first formal step toward a regulatory framework that doesn't yet exist. The direction is unambiguous, and the commercial logic is worth understanding now, before the framework arrives.

The problem is structural. A landlord or freeholder who installs a central battery in a residential block today faces an unclear picture. The technology works. The economics are attractive in principle. But the regulatory and commercial frameworks for allocating costs and savings fairly across multiple tenants are unresolved. DESNZ has acknowledged this directly. The consultation exists to fix it.

Three specific technical challenges have been identified. First, the software: virtual private network and microgrid arrangements require active management systems that don't yet have standard commercial models behind them. Second, smart meters: to unlock the full bill savings potential of a shared battery, every tenant needs a smart meter operating in smart mode. Third, grid connection: connecting a community battery can be more complex, costly and time-consuming than individual battery or solar installations. None of these are insurmountable. Odet Court demonstrates that. But each needs a clear regulatory pathway before investment at scale makes sense.

Community batteries can help manage local grid constraints. Ofgem's connections review is already holding distribution network operators to account for timely connections. A central battery reducing peak demand across twenty homes is a different proposition to the network than twenty separate units doing the same job independently.

Realistically, binding regulatory change is unlikely before late 2027 or early 2028. The 30 July close is a call for evidence, not a final policy consultation. After responses are processed, a formal secondary consultation with draft regulations follows. This is not something to act on next month. It is something to understand now, so the decision is already made when the framework lands.

The asset that benefits most from a regulatory change is always the one whose owner understood it earliest.

The Bill Buster

Own or manage a residential block? This consultation has your name on it.

The DESNZ call for evidence closes 30 July 2026. If you own or manage a block of flats or multi-tenant residential property, this is the document that will shape whether a central battery becomes a viable asset for your building over the next five years.

You don't need to submit a formal response to make use of it. Reading the framework tells you what DESNZ is trying to solve and how close the regulatory picture is to resolving. The three barriers they've named are a checklist for your own building. How many of your tenants already have smart meters? Does your building's grid connection have the headroom for a central asset? Those questions are worth putting to your managing agent or energy surveyor before the window closes, not after.

→ Review the consultation at gov.uk before 30 July 2026

Watts on the Market

Unsold this week  ·  Reader resource

The question most energy conversations avoid is what staying as you are actually costs over time. The Watts Happening Cost of Inaction Calculator runs your current energy setup forward 25 years. Your bill, your property type, two inflation scenarios. No installer at the end of it. No upsell. Just the number.

→ Run your 25-year energy cost at wattshappening.energy

Quick Watts

Solar record

269,000 solar installations completed across the UK in 2025. The highest annual total ever recorded.

(DESNZ, 28 May 2026)

BICS delay

The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, the government's energy cost relief package for energy-intensive industry, cannot launch before April 2027. Regulatory rewrites made an earlier start impossible. The government has confirmed a retrospective payment covering the 2026–27 gap, reflecting what eligible businesses would have received had the scheme launched on time.

(HoC Library CBP-10926, 25 June 2026 / WMS HCWS1521, 16 April 2026)

Grid margin notice

On 23 June, NESO issued a formal Electricity Margin Notice to the wholesale electricity market. System margins were tighter than comfortable. Electricity supplies remained secure throughout. The notice was withdrawn on the afternoon of 24 June once margins recovered. No supply interruption occurred.

(NESO, 24 June 2026)

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