Despite huge expenditure of public money during 2022/23, many millions of households still suffered from inadequate access to energy. This talk presents analysis of UK households using smart prepayment meters, prior to and during the 2022/23 energy price crisis. These groups, who experience fuel policy have been overlooked in terms of research focus and policy attention. The talk examines how different policies and targeted payments have affected disconnection and energy use – giving insights into how future policy can be designed, including proposing policy reforms for people facing fuel poverty in general, focusing on both targeted price support and reform of the current Cold Weather Payment system.