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Tag Archives: Fuel Poverty
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
March 2013: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
the number of applications to the London Energy Efficiency Fund; the Mayor’s correspondence with DECC on the ECO; fuel poverty and health; Details of decentralised energy schemes being supported by the Mayor; visits to Brixton Energy Solar projects; energy efficiency targets in the Mayor’s London Rental Standard; fuel poor families in London – and RE:NEW delivery in the private rented sector; the Mayor’s work to plug the energy gap; progress under the RE:FIT programme in London boroughs; the level of Green Deal activity in London; Is the GLA a Green Deal provider; plans in place to spend the £5,627,342 DECC Green Deal and Fuel Poverty funding to the GLA; 2013/14 funding to the RE:FIT programme; evaluation of the RE:FIT programme;
RE:CONNECT programme budget for 2013/14; Better Building Partneship programme budget for 2013/14/; events attended by the Mayor’s Environment Advisor; Bunhill CHP scheme; attendance at the High Level Electricity Working Group; and participation on environmental issues on the Talk London website.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, Energy Efficiency, News, Renewable Energy
Tagged Buildings, Fuel Poverty, Funding, Green Deal, Health, Lambeth, Photovoltaics, RE:CONNECT, RE:FIT, RE:NEW
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Energy Efficiency in London
March 2013: Helpful new briefing paper presented to the London Councils Leaders Committee on ‘Energy Efficiency in London’, which highlights:
- The bulk of recent funding from DECC to the GLA (see here and here) will be spent on replacing/repairing boiler and heating systems within the participating boroughs, as well as improving the insulation properties of homes, utilising the framework contracts already in place from the RE:NEW scheme. A smaller part of the funds will be spent on both domestic and business Green Deal assessments.
- Almost one in five London households is in fuel poverty, currently defined as householders spending more than 10 per cent of their income on energy to keep warm. This is significantly higher than the national average as a result of a greater proportion of older and hard-to-treat homes. The problem is likely to get worse too,with one in four households projected to be in fuel poverty by next year as a result of rising energy costs and the UK’s homes being some of the most energy inefficient in Europe.
- London Councils is actively pursuing Government to include measures to simplify tariffs and provide clearer information to consumers. We are lobbying for more competition to enable suppliers to offer market-beating tariffs in cases, such as the Collective Energy Switch currently pursued by London Councils and to ensure that fuel poor households will continue to benefit from centrally funded measures for retrofitting activities.
- Due to the higher costs of delivering retro-fitting in London, there is a danger that London will lose out on its fair share of ECO funding, as it did under the CERT scheme. London Councils, with the GLA, lobbied for regional targets, which Government did not accept and has resulted in adapting the RE:NEW work to include a larger element of working with retrofitting providers to address some of their main concerns (local planning matters, parking issues and sharing of benefits claimants data). The Energy Bill, however offers a new opportunity to reinforce this point, which London Councils is actively pursuing.
- Due to the types of homes in London and the prevalence of fuel poverty, vulnerable households are unlikely to meet the golden rule of the Green Deal without further financial support.
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Library, News
Tagged ECO, Energy Efficiency, Fuel Poverty, Green Deal
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Update on the ECO brokerage
March 2013: DECC have provided a summaries on the first four auctions undertaken under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) brokerage (for more on the brokerage – see here and here). Details can be viewed on DECC’s website here . They’re not the easiest thing to decipher…hence, useful that Inside Housing have produced the following analysis highlighting that:
- Energy companies are paying as much as double last year’s high for carbon savings from energy efficiency works on homes
- The identity of the organisations selling the savings is hidden until a deal is struck to make the process more transparent and competitive.
- Many of the lots did not meet the reserve price set by green deal providers.
- A spokesperson for DECC said: ‘Ultimately, the ECO brokerage market is in an early stage of development and it will take a few auctions for the price to settle.’
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
March 2013: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
Collective Switching initiative by boroughs; details on decentralised energy projects being delivered by the Mayor; Mayoral response to the Government’s ECO brokerage consultation; the spend timeline for DECC funding to the GLA and boroughs; the GLA response to the Government’s consultation on the definition of fuel poverty; the impact of sun spots on London’s CO2 emissions; a London target for ECO; progress on delivering the Green Deal through the Mayor’s RE:NEW programme; recently published GLA environment reports; recent meetings of the Mayor’s Environment Adviser; the Mayor’s position on climate change; the commissioning of Weather Action; CHP capacity secured through planning in 2012; Sutton energy from waste plant; the Mayor’s support for solar power in London; emissions from the new London Bus; support from the DfT’s Green Bus Fund to TfL; changes being made to the Congestion Change Exemption; details of the Greener Vehicle Discount; support for biomethane buses in London; Camden’s biomethane fuelling station; RE:NEW’s support to tackling fuel poverty and the list of non-GLA organisations that have utilised the RE:FIT programme.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in News
Tagged Camden, Decentralised Energy, ECO, Fuel Poverty, Green Deal, Housing, Photovoltaics, RE:FIT, RE:NEW, Renewable Energy, Sutton, Transport, Waste
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‘Groundbreaking plan to use excess heat from tube system for domestic electricity supply’
8 February 2013: Following on from the recent inauguration of the Bunhill heat and power scheme, the Islington Tribune newspaper reports that the council is looking to use waste “heat from London Underground that escapes through a vent in City Road…to supply new private homes being built nearby.” The proposal was discussed at the Council’s Executive meeting on 7 February where the borough’s Energy Strategy for 2013-16 was also set out. The papers presented at the meeting provide additional information on the heat offtake scheme:
“The network extension will be innovative by capturing waste heat from the London Underground tube tunnel vent and the electrical substations on City Road. £1m grant funding has been applied for and is now available from the European Commission (EC) to help part-fund this innovative extension of the Bunhill heat network. £2.7M council capital is required to match this funding and this is being taken forward as part of the 2013/14 budget process.”
Building on the existing Seasonal Health and Affordable Warmth (SHAW) plan, the Strategy paper additionally sets out that a borough Fuel Poverty Strategy will be developed by March 2013. Download Making Islington fairer in tough times: Energy strategy 2013 -16 here.
Also discussed at the Executive meeting were procurement details of community heating system on the Finsbury Estate.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News
Tagged Community Heating, Decentralised Energy, Fuel Poverty, Islington
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Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
February 2013: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
the Mayor’s position on nuclear and its role in securing London’s future energy supplies; the number of ‘low carbon generators’ currently helping power Transport for London’; the Mayor’s application to DECC’s Fuel Poverty and Green Deal Pioneer Places funds; European Investment Bank (EIB) funding for energy efficiency retrofits in housing; the amount of energy consumed by The Shard; the potential for the Green Deal in London; further funding for the Mayor’s RE:NEW home energy efficiency programme; promoting the Green Deal to Londoners over-65; publication of the latest TfL Environment report; GLA environment publications; hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles; the number of fuel poverty households treated under RE:NEW; revised publication date of the RE:NEW evaluation report; the total number of homes treated under RE:NEW; funding and evaluation of the RE:CONNECT Low Carbon Zones programme; zero carbon developments on the Greenwich Penisula; the Mayor’s Low Carbon Prize; the RE:FIT Schools initiative; the number of jobs created under RE:FIT; progress on the LED traffic lights initiative.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in News
Tagged Energy Efficiency, Energy Security, Fuel Poverty, Funding, Green Deal, Greenwich, Low Carbon Zone, Mayor, RE:CONNECT, RE:FIT, RE:NEW, Schools, Transport
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‘Londoners shouldn’t be left out in the cold’
February 2013: With National Energy Action (NEA) announcing today that there is now “a massive shortfall in funding for insulation programmes for low-income households” Labour member of the London Assembly Murad Qureshi AM writes that “with energy prices skyrocketing by up to 11 per cent this winter it is unlikely many people are unaware of this growing crisis….In London the picture is stark. Before the price hikes, well over half a million London households were fuel poor. Yet London has got a raw deal from the energy companies – and not just on pricing.” Read the full article here.
“The blunt answer is yes; in my view fuel poverty in London is getting worse”
January 2013: The transcript of discussions at the last Mayoral Question time has just become available and includes a number of interesting comments by the Mayor on both fuel poverty and his domestic energy efficiency programme, RE:NEW:
4046/2012 – Fuel Poverty Murad Qureshi: Is fuel poverty getting worse in London?
Boris Johnson (Mayor of London): The blunt answer is yes; in my view fuel poverty in London is getting worse. There is a problem in London because the price of fuel is increasing at a faster rate than household income. We have an increasing problem and that is why the Know Your Rights campaign is so important, the retro fitting is so important to reduce people’s fuel costs. I also think that, as a city, we need to campaign against the fuel companies who are ripping off the consumer, and I have made representations, as you would expect, on that. I think we need to start thinking about security of supply in London, and indeed in the country generally.
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
December 2012: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to: the delay in the publication to the Mayor’s evaluation report of his home energy efficiency programme, RE:NEW; a response to the recent report that London experienced the largest increase in the number of Excess Winter Mortality of any region; the number of low carbon and renewable energy installations installed in fire stations currently threatened with closure; on the Mayor’s recent statement that the “energy policy of the country is in chaos“; the Deputy Mayor’s views on renewable energy; the representation of decentralised energy generators on the Mayor’s High Level Electricity Working Group; the Energy Bill and its support to the attainment of the Mayor’s 25 per cent decentralised energy target
Progress on the Mayor’s DE target; CHP capacity in London; TfL arrangements to secure electricity supply for the London Underground ; TfL energy costs; TfL procurement of electricity from London-based low carbon and renewable energy generators
progress being made under the London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF); the UK’s attractiveness to clean energy investment; discussions with energy companies over recent price hikes; a London target under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO)
job losses in the insulation industry in London; Mayor’s liaison with the Insulation Industry Forum; the slow take up under the Green Deal and the January launch of the Green Deal; London bid to the Green Deal Pioneer Places fund and here.
Energy efficiency improvements linked to home extensions and conversions; the 2018 energy efficiency requirement for the private rented sector (and here); that there will be no zero carbon homes developed on the Greenwich Peninsula; checks on the standard of work completed under the RE:NEW programme; future energy consumption related to London’s future population growth; the anticipated energy output from the 25 decentralised energy schemes currently being supported by the Mayor; funding directed to the Mayor’s decentralised energy programme; papers from future meetings of the Mayor’s High Level Electricity Working Group; and the potential for anaerobic digestion in London and the number of future AD plants in London.
Previous months questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Posted in News
Tagged Anaerobic Digestion, CHP, Decentralised Energy, Energy Efficiency, Fuel Poverty, Funding, Green Deal, RE:NEW, Renewable Energy
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Evaluation of DECC Local Authority Competitions
December 2012: DECC have issued a tender to evaluate a series of competitions they have recently launched and the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document provides some useful information on the background to how the department will measure the success of these three particular schemes – which are:
- “Fuel Poverty Fund (£25m) The overall aim of the project is to reduce the extent of fuel poverty through the provision of resources to support improvements to the thermal efficiency of dwellings.
- The Green Deal Pioneer Places Fund (£10m)The primary purpose of the funding is for local authorities (LAs) and/or consortia of LAs (e.g. counties) to demonstrate ambitious approaches to kick starting local Green Deal activity in both the domestic and non-domestic sectors in England.
- ‘Cheaper Energy Together’ collective switching fund (£5m)The primary purpose of the funding is to support innovative collective switching or purchasing schemes by Local Authorities or third sector organisations which aim to achieve better deals on energy bills for consumers through collective purchasing power.
Applications for the competitions were submitted at the end of November. We expect the majority of project activity to complete by the end of March. “
The winners have as yet not been announced by Government: Secretary of State Ed Davey did however recently say that 115 applications had been received to “Cheaper Energy Together” competition.
London Assembly write to Government about Fuel Poverty
December 2012: Following last month’s evidence session (and see here), the London Assembly Health and Environment Committee has written to the Mayor, Department for Energy and Climate Change and energy companies about fuel poverty and domestic energy efficiency retrofit. The Committee’s correspondence can be seen here.
Writing to Minister for Energy Greg Barker, the Committee say: “The Committee would also like to know what lessons you are taking from the experience of CERT and CESP (and other programmes such as the GLA’s RE:NEW) for the Green Deal and ECO, and in particular for achieving better take-up and delivery in London. These new programmes provide an excellent opportunity to redress the previous imbalance and to show DECC’s commitment to fair delivery in London.”
The Committee quiz the Mayor over future proposals for the RE:NEW programme, asking “the Committee would like information on whether and how the plans it has heard are compatible with any further down-scaling of the annual GLA resource allocated to the programme. Your Deputy referred the Committee to the ECO funding stream but this is, we understand, for the retrofitting work itself. Is it expected to support GLA front-end activity, promotion or pipeline assembly? He also referred to a team of 90 staff within the Housing and Land Directorate, including staff transferring from the Homes and Communities Agency. The Committee would be interested to hear what quantum of staff time, and what other resource, will be allocated to RE:NEW work in 2013/14.”
Posted in Energy Efficiency, News
Tagged ECO, Energy Efficiency, Fuel Poverty, Green Deal, Housing, RE:NEW
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FAQs on ECO Brokerage
December 2012: Further to the ECO Brokerage consultation document issued earlier this week, DECC have now issued an ECO Brokerage FAQ briefing.