A business coalition has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, ahead of the fiscal statement on Friday, urging him to invest £5 billion more to insulate UK buildings. The letter from the Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Group (EEIG), which promotes energy efficiency as an infrastructure investment priority, is calling for £3 billion to be invested in a new energy efficiency scheme over the next 3 years to help insulate up to 2 million more homes and a further £2 billion to “supercharge” existing energy efficiency programmes for low income households.
The EEIG estimates that with a long term energy efficiency improvement programme, starting this year, cumulative energy savings over the next 5 years could amount to £20 billion – which can benefit households directly and reduce the amount of government borrowing needed to keep the average bill capped at £2,500. Over the next 10 years, even with prices falling significantly, a long term energy efficiency programme could save a cumulative £67 billion, leaving households and government budgets in a much healthier position.
There are almost 19 million homes in the UK with poor energy efficiency (in EPC Bands D, E, F and G). The EEIG calculates that insulating these homes to at least Band C would cut their energy bill by 28%, saving them on average £1,100. This means that the Government would only have to contribute an average of £300 to these households to meet the Energy Price Guarantee of £2,500, instead of contributing £1,400 if the home’s energy efficiency was not upgraded.
With the Chancellor due to confirm in the fiscal statement on Friday more details behind the Energy Price Guarantee, which is expected to cost over £100 billion, the EEIG points out that more investment in energy efficiency represents astonishing value for money and is essential to insulate the country from both high gas costs and a growing public debt burden. The UK has the oldest and the leakiest housing stock in western Europe, with heat loss three times greater than homes in Scandinavia. The EEIG is calling on government to launch a new, long-term energy efficiency scheme, dubbed ‘ECO Plus’, which can get off the ground quickly through using existing retrofit supply chains. Building on the successful Energy Company Obligation scheme run by energy companies, the new scheme would enable more households to access funding to make their homes energy efficient and enable the wider supply chain to participate.
The letter also calls for the government to fulfil the funding pledge on energy efficiency in the Conservative Manifesto for existing schemes. This would provide an additional £2 billion for schemes such as the Home Upgrade Grant and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which both help to insulate low-income homes. In total, the EEIG is calling for £5 billion in additional energy efficiency funding to be allocated at the fiscal statement.
Sarah Kostense-Winterton, chairman of the EEIG, says “Energy efficiency is a triple win for the economy, energy security and boosting Britain’s health. The Chancellor has an opportunity to invest to save the public purse billions of pounds through simple energy saving measures which can significantly cut household bills.”
For more information please contact:
Pedro Guertler, E3G (for information on the data in this press release):
Pedro.guertler@e3g.org, Tel: 07867 314004
Notes for Editors:
- Please find further information on the Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Group here: https://www.theeeig.co.uk/about/
- Members of the Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Group include: Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE); Confederation for British Industry (CBI); CIBSE; E3G; EDF; Eon; Energy Saving Trust; Energy UK, Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE); INCA; IPPR, Kingfisher; Knauf Insulation; MCS; MIMA, NEA; RIBA. Rockwool, Superglass; UK Green Building Council (UK GBC); Velux; WWF.
- See Annex for more information on energy savings from an energy efficiency programme to get all UK homes up to at least EPC Band C.
