Thrie Energy Collective (TEC) was founded as a response to improving the accessibility of reliable data on low income households in South Africa. TEC's innovations in digital data collection have enabled the poor to volunteer their energy consumption data through the use of their own mobile phones. Through research undertaken at the Energy Research Centre at the University of Cape Town, TEC has enabled the access to better data collection technology and improved the quality, size and scalability of household surveys in the low income sector.As and expansion on the household energy data collection TEC's specialisation has extended to consultation on low income energy service provision, energy poverty and energy access and sustainability consulting. These works complementing streams aim to provide a comprehensive structure to hold the energy development space in southern Africa.