The Energy Bill Revolution

Energy Bill Revolution Response to Spending Review

• ONS announces today Excess Winter Deaths in England and Wales surged to 43,900 in 2014/15, the highest since 1999
• With winter coming, Chancellor refuses to invest one penny of the £100 Billion infrastructure budget in insulating the UK housing stock, the best long term solution to cold home crisis
• Energy efficiency investment reduced again with the Energy Company Obligation (flagship scheme to improve home energy efficiency) falling from £800 million to £650 million (having already falling from £1.3bn to £800m in 2013)
• ECO reduction and not further public funding for homes means only 1 million households can be helped with energy efficiency measures this Parliament, a 78% decline in support compared to last Parliament when 4.5 million homes were helped

Ed Matthew, Director of the Energy Bill Revolution, an alliance of 200 organisations, including Age-UK, Barnardo’s and Kingfisher, calling for energy efficiency to be made an infrastructure priority, said:

“Despite pledging to re-build Britain, the Chancellor has failed to allocate any of the £100 Billion infrastructure fund to help re-build the 21 million British households with poor energy efficiency.  What is worse is that he has cut the existing and inadequate funding for energy efficiency under the Energy Company Obligation.  This condemns millions to continue living in cold homes, damages our energy security and makes it all but impossible to meet future carbon budgets.  It is short term thinking of the worst kind that will cost thousands of lives, lead to higher energy bills in the long term and increase pressure on the NHS. ”

Contact

Ed Matthew – Tel: 07827 157906 -  ed.matthew@e3g.org

Notes to Editors

• The economic case for making insulating homes an infrastructure priority

• 183 MPs in support

• Alliance of 200 charities and businesses including the CIB and Age UK

• Cold Homes Crisis Stats

Spending Review details on energy efficiency

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479749/52229_Blue_Book_PU1865_Web_Accessible.pdf

1.139 As well as higher wages and pensions, and lower taxes, the government is implementing a package of measures to reduce the projected cost of green policies on the average annual household energy bill by £30 from 2017. The bulk of these savings will come from reforms to the current Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme. This will be replaced from April 2017 with a new cheaper domestic energy efficiency supplier obligation which will run for 5 years. The new scheme will upgrade the energy efficiency of over 200,000 homes per year, saving those homes up to £300 off their annual energy bill, tackling the root cause of fuel poverty and delivering on the government’s commitment to help 1 million more homes this Parliament.

1.140 The government has consulted on changes to the Renewables Obligation and Feed in Tariffs schemes and will shortly publish a response to the consultations, detailing how to implement cost control on these schemes. If the proposals are implemented, this will save the average household around £6 and the average small business user £500 on their energy bills in 2020-21

1.141 To help ensure that households at risk of fuel poverty can afford to heat their homes the government will extend the Warm Home Discount to 2020-21 at current levels of £320 million a year, rising with inflation.

2.96 The government will provide £295 million over 5 years to improve the energy efficiency of schools, hospitals and other public sector buildings. Separately, over £300 million of funding for up to 200 heat networks will generate enough heat to support the equivalent of over 400,000 homes and leverage up to £2 billion of private capital investment.

3.114 Domestic energy efficiency supplier obligation – The government will implement a domestic energy efficiency suppler obligation for 5 years from April 2017, with a value of £640 million per year, rising with inflation (CPI).