The poll reveals that 64 per cent of people are worries about the lights going out, while 93 per cent of those surveyed were worried about higher gas and electricity bills.
More than half (51 per cent) of the 2,034 people questioned also said they think the government should support the construction of more renewable energy sources.
A third said they would consider investing in small-scale community owned renewable projects, and a quarter said they would be interested in investing in energy bonds where the money would be used to fund large energy infrastructure projects.
Dr Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at IME, said: “These results show here is a severe lack of public confidence in the government’s confused energy policy.”
He added that the government must “stop playing politics” with energy policy, and that “confidence in government energy policy has been damaged by its mixed messages on low-carbon energy policy and uncertainty over its support for a new nuclear build programme”.