eaga welcomes new funding for home heating and insulation

Sep 25 2008 by Mieka Smiles, The Journal

GREEN support services company eaga has welcomed The Government's recent announcement of a £910m energy package to help households in this region and across the UK cope with rising fuel bills.

The cash injection will see eaga's existing activity levels in heating and insulation rise as households increasingly turn to energy efficiency measures as a sustainable means of reducing fuel bills.

Newcastle-based eaga, a FTSE 250 company, already delivers the Government's Warm Front programme, which provides heating and insulation grants to households on qualifying benefits. The Government's announcement will see funding in Warm Front increase by some £74m over the next two years.

More than 10 million UK households are expected to benefit from the full package of spending, the largest slice of which will come from escalating the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT).

This is set by Government and requires the main energy suppliers to offer free or subsidised insulation and other energy efficiency measures to help their customers make carbon savings and lower their fuel bills.

eaga already works with all six major energy suppliers in the delivery of their CERT obligations. Indeed, Scottish Power recently outsourced its entire CERT commitments to eaga.

Under another green initiative eaga is working in partnership with the EDF Energy and the Housing Corporation to distribute eight million low energy light bulbs to housing association tenants.

Each household will receive four light bulbs with a life span 10 times longer than regular bulbs and an energy usage 80% less than a standard one. In total, the scheme aims to save 1.14 million tonnes of CO2 over a 10- year period, which would equate to about 114,000 cars off the road every year.

John Clough MBE, eaga chief executive, said: “We welcome this latest package of measures from the Government as it reinforces its commitment to tackling fuel poverty, and in particular, helping the elderly and those families on low incomes. Last year we were able to help more than 260,000 households through Warm Front by making their homes warmer in winter and more affordable to heat. The good news is that with greater funds we can now help even more homes, and keep up with the demand that's clearly out there.

“The increased commitment to CERT is also tremendous news. And as at least 40% of CERT is aimed at low income households this will make a huge and positive difference to those in most need of help.”

Simply insulating a loft to the recommended minimum level of 270mm can save an average household around £155 a year on fuel bills and cut their annual carbon emissions by more than a tonne. Cavity wall insulation can have a similar benefit.

It is estimated that there are 11 million homes in the England with cavity walls and around 7.7 million with solid walls. Methods to insulate solid wall properties are now included in approved CERT measures, which will help these hitherto unassisted households, and eaga is ideally placed to deliver these improvements.

Households who feel they may qualify for a Warm Front grant can contact (0800) 316-6007 and quote MK858.

If you don't qualify for Warm Front it is certainly worth calling your energy supplier, or the Energy Savings Trust on (0800) 512 012 to see if there are any CERT programmes on offer where you live.