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| Energy bills could fall by £50 in autumn statement measures | Energy bills could fall by £50 in autumn statement measures |
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| Ministers believe they have found a way of cutting energy bills by as much as £50 in next week's autumn statement by putting one of the green levies onto general taxation and allowing energy companies to take longer to fulfil other energy efficiency duties. | Ministers believe they have found a way of cutting energy bills by as much as £50 in next week's autumn statement by putting one of the green levies onto general taxation and allowing energy companies to take longer to fulfil other energy efficiency duties. |
| David Cameron had promised to "get rid of the green crap", according to some newspaper reports, but the emerging compromise suggests ministers' decisions are going to be less definitive. | David Cameron had promised to "get rid of the green crap", according to some newspaper reports, but the emerging compromise suggests ministers' decisions are going to be less definitive. |
| Liberal Democrats have agreed to shift funding for the warm home discount, worth £135, into general taxation. The discount is mainly aimed at older energy users. This would see bills for all users come down by about £11 a year. | Liberal Democrats have agreed to shift funding for the warm home discount, worth £135, into general taxation. The discount is mainly aimed at older energy users. This would see bills for all users come down by about £11 a year. |
| At the same time the controversial energy companies obligation (ECO) will be watered-down so energy firms have longer to meet the targets set out in the scheme. | |
| But the building industry dismissed as "spin" the claim that the ECO scheme had been saved from being axed and condemned the change, saying it would cost jobs. | |
| "Beware the spin on saving ECO," said Paul King, the chief executive of the Green Building Council. "Diluting the ambition of the scheme, and dramatically reducing the amount of solid wall installations, would increase winter deaths and fuel poverty in cold homes, and put 10,000 people out of work in the energy efficiency industry," he said. | |
| Fuel poverty campaigners, environmentalists and industry figures have been lobbying for ECO to be retained since David Cameron promised to "roll back" such charges, with 140 local authorities warning the prime minister this week of job losses and the economic impact if it was cut. | |
| Fears that the ECO would be scrapped entirely were unfounded, a Whitehall source told the Guardian. "Scaremongering about the ECO being scrapped is wide of the mark," they said. But they confirmed that the scheme would be changed, and that the separate warm homes discount would be moved off energy bills onto general taxation. | |
| There has been controversy about the differential costs of implementing the scheme reported by the energy firms. Ed Davey, the energy and climate change secretary, has suggested energy firms have been artificially inflating the costs of implementing the scheme, and what can then be loaded onto energy bills. | |
| The energy firms say the scheme has been badly designed, and if it was less rigorously framed it would be possible to improve energy efficiency far more widely and quickly. | The energy firms say the scheme has been badly designed, and if it was less rigorously framed it would be possible to improve energy efficiency far more widely and quickly. |
| At present more than half of the spending must go on solid-wall insulation, which can cost close to £10,000 per home. Firms such as Centrica say they could help 20 times as many homes if the scheme was less prescriptive | At present more than half of the spending must go on solid-wall insulation, which can cost close to £10,000 per home. Firms such as Centrica say they could help 20 times as many homes if the scheme was less prescriptive |
| They also complain that government data protection laws prevent them being given information by government departments on the fuel-poor homes that they should target to improve so making it more costly to implement. | They also complain that government data protection laws prevent them being given information by government departments on the fuel-poor homes that they should target to improve so making it more costly to implement. |
| The government's lawyers say the information cannot be provided to the energy firms without the permission of the occupant since they will not receive a guaranteed direct financial benefit due to the length of time it will take for their energy bills to fall. | The government's lawyers say the information cannot be provided to the energy firms without the permission of the occupant since they will not receive a guaranteed direct financial benefit due to the length of time it will take for their energy bills to fall. |
| In a bid to cut costs the ECO scheme's deadline for the big six is likely to be delayed by two years from the current final deadline of spring 2015. | In a bid to cut costs the ECO scheme's deadline for the big six is likely to be delayed by two years from the current final deadline of spring 2015. |
| With the £1.3bn scheme adding £100 to the average bill, a doubling in the length of time that firms have to implement the targets could see a substantial cut in bills. | With the £1.3bn scheme adding £100 to the average bill, a doubling in the length of time that firms have to implement the targets could see a substantial cut in bills. |
| Greg Barker, the energy minister, has also spoken of the need to marry the green deal, which provides low-cost finance for energy efficiency, with ECO. The government is expected to announce to the green deal, which has been criticised for being taken up by just over a thousand households rather than the 10,000 which the coalition has previously said were expected by the end of the year. The focus will be on making the scheme more "joined-up" with other green schemes, including the feed-in tariff payments for people with solar panels and a renewable heat incentive scheme launching for householders next year. | |
| The National Insulation Association (NIA) estimates there are still 7m solid walls, 5m cavity walls, and 7m lofts that lack effective insulation. | The National Insulation Association (NIA) estimates there are still 7m solid walls, 5m cavity walls, and 7m lofts that lack effective insulation. |
| The Department of Energy and Climate Change said in the summer: "Some energy suppliers are discharging their obligation more cost-effectively than others. If the highest prices for each ECO obligation are scaled up, the overall scheme would cost around £1.9bn per year – which would mean an extra impact on energy bills of around £25 per year assuming suppliers pass the full costs through to consumers. This would bring the total impact on the average energy bill to around £75 per year. | The Department of Energy and Climate Change said in the summer: "Some energy suppliers are discharging their obligation more cost-effectively than others. If the highest prices for each ECO obligation are scaled up, the overall scheme would cost around £1.9bn per year – which would mean an extra impact on energy bills of around £25 per year assuming suppliers pass the full costs through to consumers. This would bring the total impact on the average energy bill to around £75 per year. |
| "Scaling up the lowest prices would bring the overall scheme in at around £1.1bn per year – which would mean a reduction in the potential ECO costs passed through to bills of around £5 per year (compared to the central estimate). This would bring the estimated ECO costs passed through down to around £45 per year." | "Scaling up the lowest prices would bring the overall scheme in at around £1.1bn per year – which would mean a reduction in the potential ECO costs passed through to bills of around £5 per year (compared to the central estimate). This would bring the estimated ECO costs passed through down to around £45 per year." |
| Firms such as Centrica say its costs may have been higher than other firms due to a decision to conduct the energy efficiency programme in a different order to other firms. | Firms such as Centrica say its costs may have been higher than other firms due to a decision to conduct the energy efficiency programme in a different order to other firms. |
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