Energy Bills have risen significantly over recent years and it is pretty clear to see why and most accept this and are turning their attention to measures that will reduce the need rather than think like Canute they can stop the tide. To this end investing now in energy efficiency and renewable power will protect us and future bill payers i.e. our children. Not our Govt it seems, bowing to what is clearly short term politics and vision it is thought that reducing efficiency measures (that will save Millions and create much needed jobs) and saving £50 off bills is going to help. Luckily even internally the Govt is being advised of this folly. Not to worry though hey - We as a country will invest Billions instead into more roads, sorry kids !
The government's lead advisers on energy efficiency and fuel poverty have both condemned changes to energy bills as "sticking plasters" and "watering down" the only measures that permanently reduce costs to consumers.
On Monday, the energy secretary,
Ed Davey, announced a complex set of measures that he said would cut the average bill by £50. Most of this saving comes from cuts to the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) that requires energy companies to insulate homes and subsidise energy efficiency measures for hard-to-treat properties.
"We have policies that are among the best in the world, which we are unfortunately watering down," said Peter Boyd, expert chair of the energy efficiency deployment office within the Department of Energy and Climate Change(Decc). He said: "Energy efficiency is the one piece of the government's energy policies that can really cut bills in the future" – because more efficient homes use less fuel.
As well as delivering warmer homes with lower bills, better energy efficiency delivers local jobs, a high return on investment for homes, businesses and public buildings, and big, affordable reductions in carbon emissions.
He said the UK could be a world leader in energy efficiency. "What is disappointing is that the UK is not yet fully grasping the quadruple prize of energy efficiency," he said.
Derek Lickorish, chair of the government's Fuel Poverty Advisory Group, condemned all political parties for not taking energy efficiency seriously. "This is a sticking plaster and platitudes competition. What we need is a cross-party unity to deliver permanent reductions to bills through energy efficiency."
"The £50 saving, as welcome as it is, could be gobbled up by a small rise in the wholesale price on the global markets."
The biggest cut to energy efficiency in the government's plan is a cut in installing solid wall insulation through the ECO scheme, that is expected to see installations dropping from 80,000 homes a year to 25,000.
Lickorish said solid wall insulation can deliver a 40% saving on energy bills. "Most solid wall insulations deliver life-saving amounts of reduction [to bills]."
