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Interview got a very good opposition accusation that the Green Deal has "Green Deal finance is the we've to build on." base and strong supply chain been a failure. The shadow Decc team will be watching means and not the end – Barker even goes as far as to say that "it has closely how these changes affect the take-up been very successful". the end is the installation of of the Green Deal, and be ready to jump on "We know there has been extremely posiGreen Deal measures." any signs of weakness. They have had some tive feedback from the 120,000 families that success in stirring things up for the governhave had the Green Deal assessment, and over ment and will continue to try and set the 80 per cent of them are already, or are curpolitical agenda within the energy realm. rently, or are intending, to install measures as a result of Labour leader Ed Miliband thrust energy into the spotthat Green Deal assessment. light in September with his keynote speech at the end of "So the Green Deal market is being mobilised and the the Labour party conference, during which he promised to SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] supply chain is freeze energy bills. It was a deftly timed move, coming just up and running and the measures are being installed." as the big six energy suppliers were due to announce their The only surprise with the rollout of the Green Deal annual price rises. Some of them duly came in at 10 per over the past 12 months, Barker says, is that "fewer than cent or more, doing Miliband a massive favour. were expected have actually taken advantage of Green Unsurprisingly, Barker is annoyed at the talk that MiliDeal finance in order to install the measures". band is leading the energy agenda and that the coalition is He adds: "That in itself is not a problem. We are not struggling to regain the ground it lost in the autumn. here to sell finance packages, we are here to mobilise the The climate change minister fires back that Miliband is insulation with private resources of energy efficiency." treating the energy debate as a political football right at a The key point Barker pushes is that it doesn't mattime when stability and consensus is essential. ter how household energy usage is reduced, as long as it "I think Labour has injected a degree of partisan poliis reduced. tics into the energy efficiency debate that we haven't seen "Green Deal finance is the means and not the end – the for almost decades. end is the installation of Green Deal measures. "It's certainly the first time in my time in politics, and I "There's more to Green Deal than [the finance]. came into the house in 2001. "The Green Deal is a Green Deal assessment, which "I think there's some blatant politicking. It unsettles recommends a set of Green Deal measures to retrofit your the supply chain and is bad for investment. But we want home to Green Deal standards installed by Green Deal to get past that. I hope common sense will prevail." approved measures." Barker highlights the "unprecedented long-term stabilHowever, Barker is not resting on his laurels. Notwithity" that prime minister David Cameron has introduced standing his confidence that the scheme has "mobilised" into the sector by extending the Energy Company Obligathe insulation market (with small operators apparently tion (Eco) to 2017. showing the big suppliers how it should be done), he "I think the Green Deal, Eco and the energy efficiency says "a number of technical changes" will be made to the agenda actually emerge much stronger for it and we Green Deal to boost take up. now have real long-term certainty around these policies "In January we will be launching 'Green Deal in a day', because they're affordable as well as sustainable." which reduces some of the bureaucracy and paperwork, All the debate in Westminster, all the changes to the making it easier for people to sign up for finance. various policies and promises about prices and compe"We will also be making a number of software improvetition, are all well and good, but for many homeownments, a number of technical changes; individually nothers energy remains a grudge purchase and something ing particularly seismic, but are the sorts of improvements they only think about once a month when the bill drops that will make a real difference." through their letter box. There are three "important developments" that Barker However, things are set to change and energy is about and the ministerial staff at the Department of Energy and to become a lot more "sexy", according to Barker. Climate Change (Decc) will unveil in 2014 to help boost the "The Green Deal framework that we've created and the scheme. money we're putting into innovation is going to drive new The first of these will be a stamp duty rebate – worth products into the market, like the new NEST heating conup to £1,000 – for new homebuyers, which will be introtrols [next-generation smart thermostats] – which is sexy. duced in the spring, and Barker is confident this will "There are a lot more consumer-friendly products com"drive customer demand". ing down the line. Our ambitious rollout of smart meters is The second significant update for the Green Deal in going to change people's relationships." 2014 will be the street-by-street rollout off the scheme in Barker's vision of the future is one where energy is conjunction with local authorities, while the chancellor something people are involved with on a daily basis, and has also trebled the size of the communities' fund for the it is something where public engagement will be higher scheme. than it currently is. The third area of improvement – and one that will Switching will be easy and commonplace, while there potentially open up a significant new market for the is also his vision of the "big 60,000", where decentralenergy efficiency scheme – is that the government has ised generation sees community-owned generation and "cracked the teething problems around the private rented domestic solar installations challenge the power of the big sector". six suppliers'. Issues surrounding legal definitions of the Green Deal The push for switching is currently government policy have been "sorted" Barker states with a smile, "and now – with the fact that consumers could save hundreds of we're in a position to rollout the private rented sector offer pounds being made again and again. and that's going to be a big thing". Barker himself has recently followed this advice and With a sense of reality, and potentially wanting to avoid switched his supplier – "It was a substantial improvement a repeat of the "sleepless night" comment, Barker says: "It over my old deal," he says with a smile. is slow but sure. We're not forecasting a runaway train but 10 | 10th - 16th January 2014 | UTILITY WEEK