Utility Week

12 | OCTOBER 2022 | UTILITY WEEK Energy efficiency Analysis T he government's "Growth Plan 2022", delivered by new chancellor of the exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng as Utility Week was going to press, included just three references to a subject that many see as a "no-brainer" for reducing bills, increasing standards of living and levelling up. However, the fact that energy efficiency received a mention at all was at least a relief to critics who had called out the lack of "any serious attempt" to tackle the issue in the Energy Price Guarantee announcements ear- lier in the month. There were scant details as to how the government's energy efficiency scheme would work, with reference only to a £1 bil- lion initiative over three years that would boost the energy efficiency of "hundreds of thousands" of homes. The reference to this involving "new obli- gations on suppliers" would seem to indicate a revamped ECO (Energy Companies Obliga- tion) scheme. This was exactly what Energy UK was promoting in a publication just a few days before the chancellor's announcement. How- ever, the differences in the level of ambition were telling. The trade body cited projections from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) that one million annual retrofits will be needed by 2030 in order to meet the UK's decarbonisa- tion targets. Energy UK's vision of an ECO+ would see the budget scaled up to £1 billion per annum, saying this level of commitment would stimulate the necessary growth in the supply chain. Installers surveyed by Gemserv on behalf of EDF, Eon, Ovo Energy and Scottish Power, said they could increase their capacity by up to 66% a—er six months and 120% a—er one year if a £1 billion scheme was to be brought forward with long-term funding commitments. The inclusion of a commitment to energy efficiency in the growth plan followed a flurry of publications in September criticis- ing historic underinvestment in this area. One, from the Institute for Government thinktank, said it was "remarkable" the government had continued to ignore the fact that the UK's homes and buildings "are among the least efficient in Europe". It cited figures from a 2020 survey sug- gesting that a UK home with an indoor tem- perature of 20C and an outside temperature of 0C loses on average 3C a—er five hours – up to three times as much as in Germany. Caroline Flint, the former shadow secre- tary of state for energy and climate change, and now chair of the chair of the statutory Committee on Fuel Poverty (CFP), pointed The case for energy efficiency speaks for itself Support for fresh energy efficiency measures were a footnote in the 'mini-Budget' despite a weight of evidence showing the widespread returns on a significant investment. The Utility Week team examines the industry's take.

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