News

Has the Mayor ‘shown enough political leadership to tackle fuel poverty in London’?

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Admin

November 2012: This was the question asked of the Mayor at last week’s Question Time session with the London Assembly in City Hall. The transcript of the discussion has just been posted on the GLA’s website – the fuel poverty section runs from pages 43-46. The Mayor responded with the following points:

  • On recent increases in energy prices the Mayor stated that “We have repeatedly had the energy companies in .  What they are getting away with at the moment is the claim that they are obliged to spend so much on renewables and energy efficiency of one kind or another and their claim is that that is pushing up the cost of providing energy. Whether or not that is true is very, very hard for me to evaluate.”
  • The Mayor has brought up London’s specific energy issues directly with DECC –  “I have been in touch with Greg Barker who is responsible for this and my Office has been in touch with the Department repeatedly for a long time.”
  • That “we are committed to expanding our policy of retrofitting.  I do not pledge that we can do that in all homes and in many cases the housing stock in London does not make it easy for us to do this but we are going ahead, as I say, with a programme that I think not only offers the opportunity for home owners to cut their bills but also offers massive scope for employment. I think it is a shame that successive Governments have not taken this up more vigorously.”
Posted in Energy Efficiency, News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The DECC-Local Government MoU

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Admin

November 2012: A recent Parliamentary Question has provided an update, of sorts, on the DECC-Local Government MoU. Firstly – a quick re-cap. On 9 March 2011 Chris Huhne, the former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, signed a “ground-breaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to recognise the pivotal role local councils have in tackling climate change.” See the full news release issued at the time here. The MoU itself can be downloaded here.

The MoU set out how DECC and the Local Government (LG) Group would work together to help and encourage all councils to take firm action to:

  • reduce the carbon emissions from their own estate and operations
  • reduce carbon emissions from homes, businesses and transport infrastructure, creating more, appropriate renewable energy generation, using council influence and powers; and
  • participate in national carbon reduction initiatives at the local level, particularly the roll out of the Green Deal, smart metering and renewable energy deployment.

The MoU was to be underpinned by a number of actions including a management board on which DECC and the LG Group will be represented and an action plan that would take forward specific actions outlined in the LG Group ‘offer’ to DECC.

Though there has been some movement in DECC’s relationship with local government this year, specifically the publication of revised HECA guidance, and the commissioning of the Committee on Climate Change to provide guidance for local authorities (also see here) on reducing carbon emissions, there has been next to no mention of the MoU. It was therefore useful that Shadow Energy Minister Luciana Berger MP recently raised the issue of progress on some  specific actions raised in the MoU:

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) with reference to his Department’s Memorandum of Understanding with the Local Government Group, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that its policy-making process takes account of the role of local councils in achieving or developing policy; [126591]
(2) when his Department plans to publish a review of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Local Government Group; [126592]
(3) whether he has met senior political representatives from the Local Government Group of the Local Government Association to review the Memorandum of Understanding, the Annual Report and council action on climate change set out in the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Local Government Group; [126593]
(4) which senior civil servants from his Department have been assigned to work with the Local Government Association on steps to ensure that the milestones in Annex A of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Local Government Group are met; [126596]
(5) what meetings his Department has facilitated between the Local Government Group and other Government departments as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Local Government Group. [126597]

Gregory Barker: My officials and I hold discussions with the Local Government Association (LGA) on a range of policy issues of mutual interest, including on the memorandum of understanding (MoU).
To my knowledge, the Department has not facilitated meetings between the LGA and other Government Departments.
I am currently discussing with the LGA the report of progress against the MoU. This work is led in DECC by officials from the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office.

A further PQ on another MoU action elicited a similar disappointing response:

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) who sits on his Department’s Devolved, Sub-National Reform and Local Carbon Accountability Project Board; [126594]
(2) how many times his Department’s Devolved, Sub-National Reform and Local Carbon Accountability Project Board has met since March 2011. [126595]

Gregory Barker: The Devolved, Sub-National Reform and Local Carbon Accountability Project Board membership comprised officials from DECC, the Department of Communities and Local Government, HM Treasury, Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Local Government Association.
There have been no meetings of the board since March 2011.

A final (to date) attempt by Ms Berger to find out how DECC was working with local government on energy issues didn’t help either.

A speech by Ed Davey to the LGA earlier this year highlighted the importance of local authorities stating “the more I do the job, it’s clearer that national government can’t deliver on its energy and climate change policy without local government.” It’s hence a great shame that this unique relationship on energy and climate issues between central and local government has been all but abandoned.

Posted in News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

DECC to support Mayor’s RE:FIT programme

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Admin

November 2012:  Amongst the various proposals set out in the Government recently published energy efficiency strategy is one relating to the Mayor’s energy efficiency retrofit programme targeted at public sector buildings, RE:FIT, with DECC announcing that the Department will be:

34.  …funding the initial rollout of the RE:FIT programme nation-wide to public sector organisations and will work with Local Partnerships and the Government Procurement Service to establish this support. The Greater London Authority has pioneered the Mayor of London’s award winning programme to deliver the energy efficiency improvement of the public sector estate. This is achieved through a simplified ESCO procurement framework and the provision of a RE:FIT Programme Delivery Unit team to provide technical support to projects.

35.  The RE:FIT concept was initially piloted in 42 public sector buildings across London.These projects retrofitted energy savings measures to approximately 146,000m2 of building space, delivering over 7,000 tonnes reduction in carbon emissions and an average 28% reduction in energy consumption identified.The total spend was £7 million with a simple payback period of 7 years. Since the success of this pilot over 100 buildings have now successfully undergone retrofits and over 50 organisations, including Local Authorities, NHS Trusts, and Universities, have committed to using RE:FIT and the project pipeline contains in excess of 300 further properties. A new RE:FIT Framework has recently been tendered which further develops the approach and enables a wide range of financing options to be used.

Further information on the Mayor’s RE:FIT programme can be found here. No further information on the national rollout of RE:FIT appears to be available as yet.

Posted in Energy Efficiency, News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

DECC Community Energy Strategy Update

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Admin

November 2012: DECC’s recently released Energy Efficiency Strategy includes the following update on its work to develop the first ever Community Energy Strategy for the UK:

“DECC is working with stakeholder groups to develop a Community Energy Strategy that will support activity with communities across the Department. This strategy will inform how the Department works with community groups and local organisations across all aspects of buying, saving and generating energy, and make sure our community schemes are fit for purpose. The DECC Community Energy Strategy is to be developed over the coming months, and will be available for use from Summer 2013.“

DECC established a Community Energy Contact Group (CECG) earlier this year to help develop the Community Energy Strategy. Minutes of the Group’s October meeting have just been posted online by DECC – and provide some interesting detail on current discussions between the Group and DECC including – under item 5 – the CECG’s views on what are – from ‘Energy for London’s perspective – some sensible ‘must haves’ for the forthcoming strategy. The minutes can be accessed here.

Posted in News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Boroughs pushing forward decentralised energy

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Admin

November 2012: In addition to a supporting 25 decentralised energy projects in the capital, London boroughs are also working on some innovative projects to support the uptake of district heating.

Two recent projects worth mentioning are Newham’s work on establishing special planning guidance – a Local Development Order (LDO) to help streamline the process for a proposed new heat network running ” predominately along public highway from Beckton to Royal Docks, Canning Town and Custom House, West Ham and Stratford, including a short length of the Greenway between Manor Road and Stratford High Street.” Further information on the LDO project is on Newham’s website here; in a report to the council here; and in a Newham Council meeting paper here.

Southwark council have also been working on developing a contract with the SELCHP waste to energy plant to offtake heat from the plant which will be supplied to a number of estates (further information on this project in an earlier post here). Details of the contract can be viewed in council papers here.

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

25 heat network projects being supported in London

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Admin

November 2012: A recent speech by Ed Davey, Secretary of State at DECC on the department’s emerging policy around heat energy highlighted how the efficient use of heat is being promoted in the capital through its promotion of district heating. Mr Davey stated:

“London contains an example of the potential. The Greater London Authority is supporting 25 heat network projects. These have the capacity to leverage over £230 million of investment.”

A recent Mayoral question provides a little more detail on where these schemes are:

“The Decentralised Energy Project Delivery Unit is currently supporting the development of 25 decentralised projects. The following lists the activities with the boroughs:
Projects at procurement: Brent and Camden;
• Projects at post-feasibility: Croydon, Enfield, Haringey, Waltham Forest and Westminster;
• Projects at feasibility: Southwark, Islington, Hammersmith and Fulham, Newham, Sutton;
• Projects at pre-feasibility/energy master planning: Hillingdon, Ealing, and Westminster.”

Further information on Brent’s South Kilburn DE project can be found here.
Details of the innovative scheme being supported by Camden in Gospel Oak can be found here (and recent October newsletter here), which is using heat from a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant situated in the Royal Free Hospital, to provide low carbon affordable heat to nearby residents.
Other information can be found in the various borough heat map reports posted on www.londonheatmap.org.uk

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

London and the Carbon Saving Community Obligation

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Admin

November 2012: Government introduced a new affordable warmth element share to the £1.3bn a year Energy Company Obligation (ECO) earlier this year. The Carbon Saving Company Obligation (CSCo)  is designed to target insulation measures in low-income communities defined using the bottom 15% of Lower Super Output Areas (LSOA) from the Index of Multiple Deprivation. A wider range of energy saving measures will be eligible for funding under the CSCo, including cavity wall, loft and solid wall insulation. Additionally, in contrast to the bulk of the ECO funds, the CSCo will be open to applications from social housing providers.

Government have set the level of the CSCo at 20% of the overall Carbon Saving Obligation element of the ECO, representing around £190m per year. DECC have stated that London has proportionally a higher number of these low income areas and hence should – in theory – fare better under the CSCo element of ECO than other regions.

A full list of LSOA qualifying for the CSCo is available in the a July 2012 DECC guidance document available here. The  data provided by DECC is not in the most usable format  so it’s helpful that the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) has produced an Excel version of the LSOA data – download here. The CSE dataset also adds ward name, ward code and region to the original DECC dataset – to give the data extra value. The CSE dataset show that London LSOA make up 815 out of the total 5159 areas selected  – just under 16 per cent. Hence, this should mean that if energy suppliers deliver their Carbon Saving Communities Obligation to the same ratio as the number of low income areas identified through the LSOA data, £30m of insulation (ie 16% of £190m) should be directed to some of the poorest homes in London, free of charge, every year, from 2013.

Grant funding will be also directed to low income households through other elements of the ECO (the affordable warmth and carbon saving obligations) but in contrast to the CSCo this will be directed to i. the non-social housing sector and will also be predominantly directed to ii. harder to treat housing through the installation of Solid Wall Insulation (SWI).

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Construction of Dagenham AD plant begins

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Admin

23 November 2012: A news article announcing that construction of central London’s first anaerobic digestion (AD) plant is underway.  The plant will generate approximately 1.4MW of electricity, sufficient to power approximately 2,000 homes and is based in the Dagenham Dock Sustainable Industries Park. The developer, the TEG Group, state that completion is planned for the first quarter of 2014. The scheme was recently awarded funding from the Mayor’s London Waste and Recycling Board (LWaRB) – a press note for that funding can be viewed here. Two other London AD schemes are currently being considered for support by LWaRB. Development of AD plant has been going slower than anticipated (the Mayor had initially hoped that two schemes would in fact be under construction by May 2012) an issue picked up in a recent article by London Assembly Green Party member Jenny Jones.

Posted in News, Renewable Energy | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Insulation suppliers ‘concerned they will not be able to continue in business’

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Admin

23 November 2012: A number of concerns around the the delivery of energy efficiency measures in London are raised in a paper presented earlier this month to the Greater London Authority’s Housing Investment Group.  The paper sets out that:

“3.2  Due to delays in clarifying and implementing the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and the Green Deal, additional work is now needed to ensure a smooth transition from the end of the previous CESP /CERT funding scheme in December until the Green Deal goes live in April.

“3.3  In particular we need to ensure there is no slow down in environmental domestic retrofit in London from January to April 2013.

Critically for the insulation industry the paper goes on to say:

“We have met several suppliers who are concerned they will not be able to continue in business due to the potential drop in delivery from Jan-April.”

As a consequence, the Mayor’s RE:NEW domestic energy efficiency programme has decided to continue to contract the EST who “will help manage the transition period and maintain the supply chain framework until the implementation of Green Deal and ECO in April.”

It’s becoming clear that the insulation industry’s concerns – arising out of the Government’s decision not to implement a transition plan from CERT, which is heavily focused on the installation of cavity wall and loft insulation, to the Green Deal and ECO, which is not – are now being realised. An estimate of job losses to the insulation industry in London was also released last week (see earlier post ‘’625 jobs under threat in the Insulation Industry in London’)

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The ECO brokerage

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Admin

November 2012: Though there has been much discussion on the ‘start’ of the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO), there has been little mention of the new ECO brokerage system that had been proposed. The key idea behind the brokerage –  a new online system that would allow Green Deal Providers to access ECO  funds by bidding in projects which energy suppliers could choose to ‘buy’ – was that it would potentially allow a wider number of actors to participate in the ECO, such as local authorities and community groups. It would also provide DECC with greater transparency with regard to the costs met by suppliers in meeting their ECO obligation, something which DECC has little information of to date under CERT.

The brokerage was discussed in a workshop at last week’s Local Government Association’s Green Deal and ECO conference where the following updates were provided by DECC:

  • DECC had established a brokerage working group to discuss how the system could operate. No agreement was reached however on the key issue of what level the brokerage would play in suppliers achieving their ECO targets – ie to what extent suppliers would be obligated to purchase ECO ‘points’ from Green Deal Providers submitting projects – or if suppliers participation in the brokerage system is to be volutnary
  • An ECO brokerage consultation document was to be issued in the ‘summer’. DECC’s Green Deal’s progress document in June 2012 stated that “we will seek voluntary commitments from the energy companies to use the brokerage mechanism from October to allow other organisations to access  ECO subsidy. In September we will consult on whether there is a need for further legislation to oblige energy companies to use the ECO brokerage mechanism and if so how much subsidy they should be required to trade.” All of this is behind schedule.
  • In yesterday’s Green Deal webchat DECC Minister Greg Barker stated “Energy Compnies can already start delivering against their ECO targets already but we want to open the market up further and will be consulting shortly on the ECO Brokerage.”
  • DECC announced at the LGA conference that they had hired a ‘trader’ within the department and a few trial trades will take place this December to help with some ‘active learning’ on how such a system could work
  • DECC also stated that they ‘would not oblige energy companies to use the brokerage – but could do’
  • The brokerage would operate as a ‘blind mechanism’ – ie energy companies would not see which specific organisation were bidding in projects, to ensure that all trades were fair
  • The brokerage would not deliver 100% of all ECO projects: existing obligation programmes had established good relationships between energy companies and local authorities and other housing providers. Such bilateral contracts should continue
  • Related to the above – British Gas – who were at the workshop – stated that their aspiration was to continue building such longer term partnerships
  • Only Green Deal Providers would be allowed to submit projects into the brokerage system. Local authorities and social landlords would fit this criteria – and some are looking at registering as Providers. There would still be scope for smaller organisations, such as  community groups, to participate in the brokerage, as they could partner with a Green Deal Providers to submit projects, without having to go through the necessary ‘due diligence’ Green Deal Provider process themselves
  • A key concern raised was the ability of local authorities to develop projects to submit into the brokerage when funds were being withdrawn from key growth sectors such as environmental and energy services.
Posted in Energy Efficiency, News | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

‘625 jobs under threat in the Insulation Industry in London’

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Admin

19 November 2012: The Insulation Industry Forum have issued a news release stating that “a coalition representing over 70% of the UK’s £700m insulation industry has warned that 625 jobs in the insulation industry are under threat in London in 2013, with job losses starting this Winter.”

This situation arises as a result of  changes being made to the Government’s  home energy efficiency programme, moving from the existing CERT scheme, to the new Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and the Green Deal from the beginning of 2013. The IIF state that:

“The losses come from the gap between the ending of the existing subsidy schemes for cavity wall solid wall and loft insulation, and the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) becoming fully functional. This will seriously impact on the continuity of work and number of cavity wall, loft insulation and solid wall jobs undertaken from the 1 January 2013. As a result of the gap, 625 jobs will go in London in 2013.”

As detailed in a number of previous posts, London has missed out from energy supplier CERT funds (and its predecessor programmes) over the last decade (clearly shown in slide 2 of a recent GLA presentation on the ‘History of Attracting CERT’ here). There are still significant numbers of lofts and cavity walls to be insulated in the capital. However, the new ECO and Green Deal programmes will remove the market stimulation programmes for loft and cavity insulation – apart from those households who fall within a subset of ECO – the Carbon Saving Communities Obligation (CSCO) areas.

At the Local Government Association’s Green Deal conference held in London last Friday, a presentation from East London based organisation Otesha highlighted that programmes they had initiated to help get young unemployed people trained in the insulation sector, as part of their ‘green jobs’ initiative, where stalling as a result of insulation companies losing contracts because of the change in Government programmes.

Posted in Energy Efficiency, News | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

CIL supporting sustainable energy in Camden

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Admin

November 2012: Camden have issued further information on a new Camden Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and are asking for views on a preliminary draft charging schedule. The consultation sets out that “The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a new charge that local authorities will be able to collect on new developments in their area. It is based on a formula relating to the type and size of development and is collected when planning permissions for new developments are implemented. The funds gathered will be spent on infrastructure within Camden such as schools, community facilities, highways improvements and many other forms of provision which are currently funded by monies paid by developers under Section 106 obligations.”

As part of the evidence base required for setting the CIL, Camden have commissioned an infrastructure study examining key utilities required in the borough over the coming decades. This study includes energy infrastructure, with page 47 onwards setting out a useful summary of some key sustainable energy issues for Camden:

“LB Camden recognises that it needs to play its part in supporting London’s drive towards a lower carbon energy supply. Consultation with the Council has indicated that three areas within the borough could form the focal points for public investment – Euston/KingsCross;  Bloomsbury/Tottenham Court Road; and Gospel Oak – with a figure of £1 million for each area (£3m in total) being considered appropriate to help lever in further private investment. To date £3.8 million has been secured from the Francis Crick Institute (national medical research centre next to St Pancras station), although the further £1 million identified through consultation with the council will still be needed to address linking up other major development sites in the Euston/Kings Cross area.”

Appendix A of the report provides some further information. The consultation runs from 8 Nov 2012 to 20 Dec 2012. Further information on decentralised energy opportunities are set out in Camden’s Heat Map (scroll to the bottom of page).

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment