Dr Jake Barnes, University of Oxford

As the UK moves towards a low-carbon future, households are playing an increasingly important role in transforming how energy is produced and used. Instead of being passive consumers, many households are now generating their own electricity – such as through solar panels – and adjusting  when and how they use energy to better match renewable generation. This kind of flexible energy use could save the UK up to £10 billion each year by 2050. However, we still know too little about how to support and encourage households to become more flexible in their energy use.

The Pathways to Flexibility (P2F) project explores how everyday household routines and decisions shape changes in energy demand over time. Rather than focusing on one-off measures like price incentives or smart technologies, the project takes a broader, longer-term view that considers social, behavioural and technological factors together.

Using a mix of methods – including detailed ethnographic interviews with households and analysis of their energy use data – P2F will examine different pathways through which household energy behaviour evolves. These insights will then be tested at a national scale to identify ways of encouraging flexible energy use behaviours that fit real household lives across diverse household types and circumstances.The project will provide evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, energy providers and communities to design fairer, more effective strategies for achieving flexibility – helping the UK meet its net-zero goals whilst supporting households in the transition to cleaner, smarter energy systems

Expected Deliverables and Outputs
• 4x Publicly accessible research protocols
• 1x Open dataset of anonymised survey responses
• 2x Non-academic reports detailing results of each part
• 2x Journal articles in internationally leading behavioural science and sociology journals. 
• 3x Policy briefs for energy industry stakeholders such as NESO, DESNZ, Ofgem, energy suppliers
• 1x Workshops with energy stakeholders
• 2x Conference presentations

Expected Outcomes
Our research protocols and open datasets will enable replication and extension by other  researchers, advancing methodological practice in behavioural research. Journal articles and  conference presentations will disseminate our novel conceptual contribution (combinations of  interventions for flexibility) and methodological innovation (validated framework for studying  behaviour in complex socio-technical systems) to academic communities. Non-academic reports  and policy briefs, co-created through our stakeholder workshop with 25+ energy system actors  from DESNZ, Ofgem, NESO and energy suppliers, will translate findings into actionable  recommendations tailored to policy and industry contexts. This co-production approach ensures  outputs are timely, relevant and usable, supporting uptake and application to improve flexibility programme design and delivery