Friday 26 July 2013

Lower energy bills for 50,000 North East properties

Up to 50,000 homes and businesses in the North East are set to benefit from an energy efficiency scheme in a bid to help them cut bills and tackle fuel poverty.

The £200 million ‘Warm Up North’ initiative, which starts in September this year, includes eight local authorities and is expected to create around 500 jobs.

British Gas will install energy saving measures such as solid wall insulation, expected to help save up to £300 on annual energy bills and cut 1.9 tonnes of CO2 from a house, replacement of an inefficient boiler, potentially saving the same amount and replacement of double-glazed windows, expected to save £165 on energy bills every year.

Councillor Gerald Bell, Cabinet Member for investment and development at Newcastle City Council said: "Warm Up North will make a significant contribution to a number of our priorities in Newcastle - by tackling fuel poverty it will help to reduce inequalities, by improving energy efficiency it will help create decent neighbourhoods and by creating job opportunities it will help to create a working city.”

The eight local authorities include Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

The news comes as DECC also launched a £20 million communities scheme to boost the uptake of the Green Deal scheme.