Friday 24 July 2015

UK Government ‘penny wise but pound foolish’ on Green Deal

The UK Government is being “penny wise but pound foolish” if it believes getting rid of the Green Deal scheme will save money on consumers’ bills.

The comment from the Energy and Climate Change Committee chair comes as DECC announced it would stop funding the flagship energy efficiency scheme.

Angus Brendan MacNeil SNP believes energy efficiency is the “most effective way” to save carbon and reduce bills for consumers.

He added: “The government has once again slipped out another announcement about cuts to green policies after Parliament has risen for the recess.

“The government is being penny wise but pound foolish if it thinks it will save bill payers money by scrapping energy saving schemes.”

DECC has also proposed to reduce support for solar and biomass and scrap subsidies for onshore wind.

John Sauven, Greenpeace Executive Director believes the government is moving to becoming the “greyest ever”.

He added: “If this government wants growth, lower energy prices and a better quality of life for people then it needs to do the opposite of what it announced over the past few weeks. The cheapest form of low carbon electricity is onshore wind, followed by solar, both of which the government is doing their utmost to sabotage.

"Since the election, we are now moving from the ‘greenest government ever’ to the 'greyest government ever’. This is not the mandate this government put to the country in the general election. And it will be a hard sell to the international community at the climate talks in Paris at the end of the year. Without any real domestic action to tackle climate change this government will lose any credibility to influence others.”

Consumer group Which? however welcomed the move, saying the government “can’t keep throwing money at a scheme that has spectacularly failed to take off”.

Executive Director Richard Lloyd added: “Ministers should now work with consumers to put together a realistic new approach that is genuinely good value and helps people to save money by saving energy."

Energy Secretary Amber Rudd today committed to take action on climate change while keeping energy bills down for consumers.