The infrastructure gap behind the zero bills promise 

Zero bills are not a future promise. They are, says Ivan Castro, already happening. But the question is: how to deliver them at scale?

The UK government’s £13 billion commitment to ‘zero bill’ homes marks a watershed moment The question is how to deliver them at scale for UK energy policy. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s Warm Homes Plan will fund solar panels, batteries, and heat pumps across millions of homes, meanwhile Housing Secretary Steve Reed has championed the Carpenters Yard development in Epping, the world’s largest zero-bills community, as a template for Britain’s housing future. 

The ambition is clear and the market opportunity substantial. By 2030, residential batteries are forecast to exceed one million units, EVs will grow from one to ten million, and heat pump installations will reach 600,000 annually. Ministers envision a nation where homes generate enough power to eliminate electricity bills entirely. 

The question is not whether zero bills are possible, they demonstrably are. The question is how to deliver them at scale. 

Proof of concept: seven years of results 

Zero bills are not a future promise. They are already happening. Since October 2019, companies such as Levelise have delivered exactly this outcome through energy flexibility, paying over £2 million directly to more than 5,500 customers by trading their battery storage across energy markets. These aren’t subsidised demonstration projects. They are ordinary homes with batteries, benefiting from infrastructure connecting them to multiple revenue streams. 

The mechanics are straightforward. When electricity is cheap or abundant, batteries charge. When demand peaks and prices spike, batteries discharge back to the grid. This arbitrage reduces bills, but the real value comes from participating in multiple markets simultaneously: wholesale trading, grid balancing services, capacity payments, and local network flexibility. A single home battery can generate revenue from four or five sources in a day. This is a proven seven-year track record of turning household batteries into active grid participants that earn money for homeowners while supporting system stability. 

Why most homes cannot access this value 

Here is the challenge facing the government’s ambition: installing a battery does not automatically deliver these benefits. Most residential batteries today sit largely idle during peak demand periods, unable to access the flexibility markets where the value lies. 

Think of it like this: buying a car doesn’t make you a taxi driver. You need licensing, insurance, dispatch systems, payment processing, and regulatory compliance. Similarly, owning a battery doesn’t make you a flexibility provider. You need the infrastructure that connects your asset to the markets. 

• Current solutions fall into three categories, none of which fully solve the problem: 
• Basic optimisation systems shift consumption to cheaper times, saving money through tariff arbitrage but capturing only a fraction of the value. 
• Energy supplier programmes offer slightly better returns but lock you into a single provider’s ecosystem. Switch suppliers and optimisation may fail. 
• API-only platforms provide software to trade batteries but lack the hardware required for high-value markets. Grid operators need metering that meets settlement standards — software alone isn’t enough. 

Carpenters Yard works because it was purpose-built with a complete infrastructure stack: hardware metering, regulatory compliance, market access, and control systems. Most homes are retrofits, and existing solutions provide only partial capability. 

What complete infrastructure actually means 

Making zero bills accessible to millions requires infrastructure that works like a digital platform – between your home and the energy system, handling complexity automatically. 

1. Regulatory compliance: You need metering meeting grid standards, data systems satisfying privacy rules, and control architecture balancing household and grid needs. 
2. Proven hardware: Accurate measurement and reliable control at the grid connection point. 
3. Comprehensive market access: Batteries should participate in wholesale trading, balancing services, capacity markets, and local network services simultaneously. Complete infrastructure handles this complexity invisibly. 
4. Zero upfront cost: Infrastructure providers deploy equipment at their own cost, monetise flexibility, and share benefits with homeowners. Homeowners get guaranteed savings; providers earn returns. 

This is how Levelise delivered over £2 million to customers since 2019. The infrastructure handles complexity; homeowners enjoy savings; the grid gains flexibility. 

Beyond subsidised hardware 

Germany’s plug-in solar experience shows the limits of hardware-only solutions. Over one million homes installed small solar units in two years, reducing bills modestly through self-consumption. But these systems cannot trade power, store it efficiently, or provide flexibility services. The UK risks repeating this at £13 billion scale. Subsidies alone accelerate installation but without infrastructure, millions of assets remain underutilised, capturing only a fraction of potential value. 

The real economics of zero bills 

A well-insulated home with solar can approach zero bills through self-consumption. Add a battery, and you shift solar generation to evening use. Valuable but seasonal. Add comprehensive flexibility infrastructure and the economics transform: batteries charge overnight, provide balancing services, receive capacity payments, support local networks, and trade in wholesale markets. In well-insulated homes, this can exceed zero bills, generating net revenue while covering consumption. 

The seven-year track record proves it works. £2 million in customer payments shows real economic value. The challenge is scaling from thousands of homes to millions. 

Making every home flexibility-ready 

The government’s zero bills ambition is achievable and essential for managing a grid with higher renewable generation and electrified transport. Hardware subsidies alone will not deliver it. What is needed is infrastructure that makes flexibility simple — like using a mobile phone without understanding networks. It ensures regulatory compliance, optimises across markets, guarantees savings, and makes zero bills accessible regardless of technical expertise. 

The Energy Act 2023, PAS 1878, and Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement provide legal and technical frameworks. Distributed energy assets can become active grid participants — but only if infrastructure bridges home and market. 

From promise to reality 

The government signals genuine commitment, but execution matters. Subsidising hardware without infrastructure risks underutilised assets and missed opportunities for bill reduction, grid management, and renewable integration. Zero bills require zero upfront cost infrastructure connecting every home to flexibility markets. This model exists, works, and has delivered measurable value. The challenge now is scaling it to match the government’s hardware ambitions. The question is not whether we can install solar and batteries, it is whether we can build infrastructure to make every home an active participant in Britain’s energy transition, delivering zero bills as a market-enabled reality. 

Ivan Castro is Operations Director at battery storage solutions company Levelise.