Interview
G
reg Barker's 2013 was busier than even he would
have anticipated at this time last year. Not only
did the climate change minister bring the Green
Deal and the Energy Company Obligation into the world
– to replace the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (Cert)
and the Community Energy Saving Programme (Cesp)
schemes – but he has also had to do his part in fighting
off claims from Labour that the coalition government is
failing to deal with the "cost of living crisis". In particular,
he and the rest of the government have struggled to counter Labour leader Ed Miliband's promise to freeze energy
prices for 20 months should Labour win the 2015 general
election.
One phrase that has come back to haunt Barker was
a comment made on BBC Radio 4 in March on the Green
Deal. "If we don't have 10,000 (plans) by the end of the
year, I'll be having sleepless nights," he said.
At the end of November, the Green Deal had only managed to get 458 plans installed, with an additional 1,020
plans either accepted by or signed by homeowners.
Unless Santa brought a few thousand people a Green
Deal for Christmas, it looks as though Barker's 10,000
plan goal is going to be missed.
Speaking to Utility Week in late December, the minister
accepted that the government's flagship energy efficiency
scheme had not gone "as anticipated", but denied the
UTILITY WEEK | 10th - 16th January 2014 | 9
