Polling commissioned by eleven trade associations reveal that energy cost remains, not surprisingly, the most cited concern, but voters also support development of clean energy.

In the poll, almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of the public across the UK think clean power strengthens the UK’s security, which is held as a majority view across every political persuasion.

Watt Communities Want: Six Insights into UK Public Opinion on Energy sets out the views of 996 UK adults across all political voting intentions, who were surveyed between 23 March and 20 April 2026.

Undertaken by Early Studies, six strategic insights emerge from the data.

First, most people associate clean power with improved security, both in terms of energy supply and dependence on international supply chains.

Second, whilst lowering energy bills is a priority, the public is asking for investment rather than delay; the preference for spreading costs over many years now leads by some way across every political persuasion, age groups and gender.

Third, whilst the cost of energy and energy security remain the top concerns, there is still strong support for tackling climate change and reducing air pollution.

Fourth, there is majority support for a flexible, storage-led system to accommodate the variable output from renewables: grid upgrades, storage and smart technology, with only 4 per cent of the public willing to fall back on fossil fuels.

Fifth, clean energy is increasingly seen as supporting the country’s jobs and industrial strategy.

Sixth whilst there is support for, and increasing understanding of the energy sector’s transition, there is a need to improve communications to correct misperceptions about the energy system and its costs.

The profit misperception is widely misunderstood, with public estimates of supplier profit sitting at around sixteen times above the actual level, and it has not moved at all in five years, unlike every other knowledge gap in this dataset. The average estimate (median) sits at 40 per cent in 2020, 40 per cent today, and 40 per cent projected for 2030.

Here the sector needs to do a better job in communicating the facts in order to allow for progress, not just on cost either, as the public also underestimates how much electricity is already generated from clean sources, with an average estimate of 40 per cent that is short of the reality (55 per cent renewables and nuclear).

Link.

---