Thousands of householders who have seen their fuel bills rise could be missing out on money to help them improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
A government initiative, the 'Carbon Emission Reduction Target' (Cert), a home-insulation programme funded by energy companies, was launched in April. Under it, the companies must offer grants to enable householders to make their homes more energy efficient in order to hit carbon emission reduction targets.
Cert spending is expected to reach £3bn over the next three years. Forty per cent of the money has been ring-fenced for the over-seventies and vulnerable households in receipt of qualifying income benefits, but the bulk is aimed at all other householders, and very few have taken it up.
In London, for example, British Gas runs a DIY insulation offer on behalf of the office of Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. It runs until the end of the year and provides DIY loft insulation for £99. There is £50 cashback available once the insulation has been delivered and payment received.
full article
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Friday, 8 August 2008
Energy suppliers face anger over price rises
Energy companies are set to impose another round of punishing price increases on consumers, despite a steep slide in the wholesale price of gas.
Scottish Power is among those expected to announce double-digit price rises for its 5.2 million gas and electricity customers in the coming days.
E.ON, npower and Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) are also thought to be preparing further rises to household bills.
The increases will be particularly galling for British families already battling with rising mortgage, food and fuel costs, because they follow a sharp fall in wholesale gas prices.
The price of gas for delivery the following day has dropped 32 per cent over the past month, from 69p per therm in early July to close at 47p last night.
Forward gas prices have also fallen. The price of gas for delivery this winter has declined from 104p per therm last month to about 88p per therm.
The decrease has accompanied a near-20per cent drop in the price of crude oil, to which most commercial gas contracts are linked. That touched a high of $147 per barrel on July 11 and is now at about $118.
full article
Scottish Power is among those expected to announce double-digit price rises for its 5.2 million gas and electricity customers in the coming days.
E.ON, npower and Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) are also thought to be preparing further rises to household bills.
The increases will be particularly galling for British families already battling with rising mortgage, food and fuel costs, because they follow a sharp fall in wholesale gas prices.
The price of gas for delivery the following day has dropped 32 per cent over the past month, from 69p per therm in early July to close at 47p last night.
Forward gas prices have also fallen. The price of gas for delivery this winter has declined from 104p per therm last month to about 88p per therm.
The decrease has accompanied a near-20per cent drop in the price of crude oil, to which most commercial gas contracts are linked. That touched a high of $147 per barrel on July 11 and is now at about $118.
full article
Thursday, 7 August 2008
Can you still get a `green' fuel deal?
THE GREENEST DEALS
Some tariffs include electricity from 100 per cent renewable sources, and some offset the carbon dioxide emissions from the gas you use.
Confusingly though, when you buy a 100 per cent renewable package, it doesn't guarantee that the company will produce any additional renewable energy. It could simply mean that someone else, on a standard tariff, gets a bit less renewable energy.
Companies that confirm they do not divert renewable energy from other tariffs include Good Energy and Utilita.
Ecotricity's energy is not all renewable, but, for every £1 spent by customers, the company has invested at least £1 in building new wind turbines.
These `darker green' products are among the most expensive, so there is a trade-off between how much you want to spend on fuel and how green you want to be.
GOVERNMENT ACTION
In March 2007, providers only sourced around five per cent of electricity from renewables. The government wants this figure to increase to 20 per cent by 2020. Energy regulator Ofgem is devising a voluntary scheme showing the fuel mix and carbon footprint of fuel tariffs. It hopes to launch it later this year.
full article
Some tariffs include electricity from 100 per cent renewable sources, and some offset the carbon dioxide emissions from the gas you use.
Confusingly though, when you buy a 100 per cent renewable package, it doesn't guarantee that the company will produce any additional renewable energy. It could simply mean that someone else, on a standard tariff, gets a bit less renewable energy.
Companies that confirm they do not divert renewable energy from other tariffs include Good Energy and Utilita.
Ecotricity's energy is not all renewable, but, for every £1 spent by customers, the company has invested at least £1 in building new wind turbines.
These `darker green' products are among the most expensive, so there is a trade-off between how much you want to spend on fuel and how green you want to be.
GOVERNMENT ACTION
In March 2007, providers only sourced around five per cent of electricity from renewables. The government wants this figure to increase to 20 per cent by 2020. Energy regulator Ofgem is devising a voluntary scheme showing the fuel mix and carbon footprint of fuel tariffs. It hopes to launch it later this year.
full article
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Poorest targeted with energy-saving schemes
Ministers are examining a raft of green energy measures, including bringing forward a £2.75bn home insulation programme funded by energy companies, to protect Britain's poorest from the impact of rising gas and electricity prices.
They are looking at the idea of front-loading a scheme known as the carbon emissions reduction target (Cert) so that more money is spent sooner by energy companies, with a greater proportion of the funding going to the fuel-poor.
The three-year programme promotes reductions in carbon emissions for households by installing energy efficiency measures such as cavity wall and loft insulation in the homes of people on low incomes and the elderly. It is designed to raise more than £2bn from the energy companies over three years, but could be front-loaded so that more is spent this year and next.
Ministers may also publish a general consultation paper on windfall taxes on the profits of the energy utility companies, but that is not the preferred option of the chancellor, Alistair Darling, or of the Department of Business and Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Berr) led by John Hutton.
Last week Centrica, the parent company of British Gas announced a 35% price increase, sending shudders through Whitehall. The average British household now faces annual gas and electricity bills of more than £1,200, driving tens of thousands into fuel poverty.
Ministers are also looking at restoring cuts in the Warm Front programme, a package of measures worth up to £2,700 for vulnerable homeowners or for those on benefits. Funding for the programme, designed to cover insulation and central heating, has been cut by 16% from £350m in 2007-8 to £295m in 2008-9, a cut already criticised by the Berr select committee and one that Gordon Brown has already hinted he may reverse.
full article
They are looking at the idea of front-loading a scheme known as the carbon emissions reduction target (Cert) so that more money is spent sooner by energy companies, with a greater proportion of the funding going to the fuel-poor.
The three-year programme promotes reductions in carbon emissions for households by installing energy efficiency measures such as cavity wall and loft insulation in the homes of people on low incomes and the elderly. It is designed to raise more than £2bn from the energy companies over three years, but could be front-loaded so that more is spent this year and next.
Ministers may also publish a general consultation paper on windfall taxes on the profits of the energy utility companies, but that is not the preferred option of the chancellor, Alistair Darling, or of the Department of Business and Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Berr) led by John Hutton.
Last week Centrica, the parent company of British Gas announced a 35% price increase, sending shudders through Whitehall. The average British household now faces annual gas and electricity bills of more than £1,200, driving tens of thousands into fuel poverty.
Ministers are also looking at restoring cuts in the Warm Front programme, a package of measures worth up to £2,700 for vulnerable homeowners or for those on benefits. Funding for the programme, designed to cover insulation and central heating, has been cut by 16% from £350m in 2007-8 to £295m in 2008-9, a cut already criticised by the Berr select committee and one that Gordon Brown has already hinted he may reverse.
full article
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