A report by a committee of MPs said that the government should use the forthcoming Autumn Statement to clarify its position on energy subsidies and to make better provision for renewable energy.
Source: Energy Subsidies, Ninth Report (Session 201314), HC 61, House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Dec
A report examined phase one of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment Scheme in Great Britain, looking at who participated, the motivations behind their participation, their experiences of the installation, whether expectations had been met, and what lessons could be learned to influence wider take up of renewal heat technology.
Source: AECOM, Analysis of Customer Data from Phase One of the Renewable Heat Premium Payments (RHPP) Scheme, Department for Energy and Climate Change
Date: 2013-Dec
A government report provided an overview of the likely significant environmental effects of proposals for new onshore oil and gas licences, including shale oil and gas exploration and removal. It set out alternatives, and how the environmental effects could be reduced or offset. The Department of Energy and Climate Change announced a consultation alongside this report, and proposed to take the consultation responses into account before issuing a 'post-adoption statement', which would summarize how the government intended to proceed with the licensing. The consultation would close on 28 March 2014.
Source: AMEC Environment & Infrastructure UK Limited, Strategic Environmental Assessment for Further Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing: Environmental report, Department for Energy and Climate Change
Links: Report | Associated documents | Consultation | DECC press release
Date: 2013-Dec
A government report set out the national infrastructure plan, setting out priorities in areas such as roads, railways, energy, telecommunications and flood defences.
Source: National Infrastructure Plan 2013, HM Treasury
Links: Report | Speech | CBI press release | NAPF press release | RTPI press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Dec
A government report gave the second update on progress on the UK Renewable Energy Roadmap. The report noted progress against targets and confirmed that the government was continuing to look at options for increasing renewable generation.
Source: UK Renewable Energy Roadmap Update 2013, Department for Energy and Climate Change
Links: Report | Annex | DECC press release
Date: 2013-Nov
A report examined the evidence on industrial energy efficiency, to explore: existing trends in industrial process energy use; the technical and economic energy efficiency potential; and barriers to the uptake of energy efficiency improvements. The report was part of a two phase study. The second report would examine the gaps in the evidence base and opportunities for improvements.
Source: Paul Stepan and Daniel Jones, Feasibility Study on Improving the Evidence Base for Industrial Energy Efficiency, Verco
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Nov
An audit report said that the government and regulators did not know by how much new investment by the private sector in energy, water and telecoms infrastructure would increase household utility bills. It said that expected investment was likely to have an impact, and this was likely to hit those households with incomes in the lowest 10 per cent particularly hard. The report recommended that the Treasury should develop mechanisms to assess the impact of investment on consumer bills, and that figures for expected impact should be published. It also recommended that government departments should consider the implications for consumer bills and their overall affordability before making infrastructure commitments.
Source: Infrastructure Investment: The impact on consumer bills, HC 812-I (Session 201314), National Audit Office, TSO
Links: Volume I | Volume II | Summary | Appendix 6 | NAO press release
Date: 2013-Nov
The government began consultation on the balance of competences between the United Kingdom and European Union in the area of energy.
Source: Call for Evidence on the Government s Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union, Department for Energy and Climate Change
Links: Consultation document | Annex | DECC press release
Date: 2013-Oct
The government published its annual energy statement.
Source: Annual Energy Statement 2013, Cm 8732, Department for Energy and Climate Change, TSO
Links: Report | DECC press release
Date: 2013-Oct
A government report responded to the CCS Cost Reduction Task Force final report and provided updates on some key policy developments since the publication of the United Kingdom's Carbon Capture and Storage Roadmap in 2012.
Source: CCS in the UK: Government response to the CCS Cost Reduction Task Force, Department for Energy and Climate Change
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Oct
The government announced that it had reached a commercial agreement with EDF Group on the key terms of a proposed investment contract for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset. The new power station would be online from 2023. EDF Group and other investors would fund the project.
Source: Press release 21 October 2013, Department for Energy and Climate Change
Links: DECC press release
Date: 2013-Oct
A think-tank report said that community-owned energy could grow to 89 times its existing size if the right national and local policies were put in place. But if community owned energy were to become more commonplace, local councils needed to remove the significant barriers faced by communities during the planning process. Community energy could generate £30 million per year in tax revenue for local councils, and drive down high energy bills by increasing competition in the energy market.
Source: Jelte Harnmeijer, Matthew Parsons, and Caroline Julian, The Community Renewables Economy: Starting up, scaling up and spinning out, ResPublica
Links: Report | Summary | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Sep
A study examined an area-based approach to identifying households in Northern Ireland that were most at risk of fuel poverty.
Source: Christine Liddell and Susan Lagdon, Tackling Fuel Poverty in Northern Ireland: An area-based approach to finding households most in need, Northern Ireland Executive
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Aug
A report by a committee of MPs said that financial support should be given to businesses, co-operatives, local authorities, schools, and housing associations to enable them to install medium-sized renewable energy generating systems – such as solar arrays, wind turbines and district heating systems. The cost would be justified by the benefits that these projects could bring to communities and the country as a whole.
Source: Local Energy, Sixth Report (Session 201314), HC 180, House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | Committee press release | Friends of the Earth press release | ResPublica press release | TCPA press release
Date: 2013-Aug
A report by a committee of MPs said that the coalition government was not doing enough to help low-income families living in poorly insulated homes, struggling in 'fuel poverty'. Spending on the problem had been cut in England, and some of the government's fuel poverty programmes appeared to be 'in hiatus'. More of the cost of social and environmental programmes should be funded through direct taxation rather than levies, which added to the burden faced by the most vulnerable consumers.
Source: Energy Prices, Profits and Poverty, Fifth Report (Session 2013-14), HC 108, House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | Committee press release | DECC press release | Citizens Advice press release | Consumer Association press release | Consumer Futures press release | Friends of the Earth press release | Ofgem press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jul
A report said that owners of energy-efficient homes should pay less council tax and stamp duty, in order to drive take-up of the government's 'Green Deal' energy efficiency scheme.
Source: Retrofit Incentives: Boosting take-up of energy efficiency measures in domestic properties, UK Green Building Council
Links: Report | Summary | UKGBC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Jul
An article examined the experiences of those living in fuel poverty, and sought to understand the reasons for lack of warmth in homes, focusing on residents of a high-rise block of flats in Edinburgh (Scotland).
Source: Maria Teresa De Haro and Alison Koslowski, 'Fuel poverty and high-rise living: using community-based interviewers to investigate tenants' inability to keep warm in their homes', Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, Volume 21 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jul
The coalition government published a framework for future action in tackling fuel poverty in England. A new definition of fuel poverty would be adopted (based on an independent review), in order to ensure that support was targeted at those who needed it most. A household would be defined as 'fuel poor' if its total income was below the poverty line (taking into account energy costs), and its energy costs were higher than typical.
Source: Fuel Poverty: A Framework for Future Action, Cm 8673, Department for Energy and Climate Change, TSO
Links: Framework | Annex | Hansard | DECC press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Jul
A new book examined social policy developments under the coalition government across a range of key policy areas. It included chapters dealing with health policy, pensions, fuel poverty and climate change, unemployment and activation policies, precarious employment, and the proposed new universal credit.
Source: Gaby Ramia, Kevin Farnsworth, and Zoe Irving (eds), Social Policy Review 25: Analysis and debate in social policy, 2013, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jun
The Department of Energy and Climate Change published its annual report for 2012-13.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13, HC 18, Department of Energy and Climate Change, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Jun
A report said that markets for utilities and financial services were failing those on the lowest incomes. Low-income households needed to spend between one-fifth and one-third of all outgoings on utilities and on buying larger items that they were most likely to purchase on credit. Paying higher prices for utilities and credit could raise the cost of a minimum household budget by around 10 per cent.
Source: Donald Hirsch, Addressing the Poverty Premium: Approaches to regulation, Consumer Futures
Links: Report | Consumer Futures press release | Loughborough University press release
Date: 2013-Jun
The Scottish Government published a plan to tackle fuel poverty and reduce Scotland s carbon footprint by improving the energy efficiency of housing.
Source: Scotland s Sustainable Housing Strategy, Scottish Government
Links: Plan | Scottish Government press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Jun
The Energy Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to reform the electricity market. Companies producing low-carbon energy including renewables such as wind and solar power, and nuclear power would receive a higher price for their energy than for that produced in fossil fuel power plants. Household energy bills would, on average, be 5-9 per cent lower than they would otherwise have been between 2016 and 2030.
Source: Energy Bill, Department for Energy and Climate Change, TSO | Debate 4 June 2013, columns 1387-1492, House of Commons Hansard, TSO
Links: Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | DECC press release
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined whether economic market failures played a significant role in explaining the presence of energy efficiency measures in residential properties. There appeared to be a limited role for credit constraints, receipt of means-tested benefits or educational attainment. Private renters were significantly less likely to own efficiency measures, suggesting that failures in the landlord-tenant relationship in the private-rented sector were a key barrier to uptake. The characteristics of the dwelling rather than those of the occupants were the most significant explanatory factors.
Source: Andrew Leicester and George Stoye, People or Places? Factors associated with the presence of domestic energy efficiency measures in England, Working Paper 13/14, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs said that it was 'disappointed' that the coalition government was not able to provide a clear idea of what success would look like for the 'Green Deal' energy efficiency policy.
Source: The Green Deal: Watching Brief, First Report (Session 201314), HC 142, House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | Committee press release | UKGBC press release | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-May
A study examined whether it was possible to design a revenue-neutral carbon tax on household energy use and transport, with a focus on safeguards to protect low-income households from losing money overall. It concluded that it was possible to protect the majority of low-income households, and almost all recipients of means-tested benefits, from the negative impact of a carbon tax through an appropriately designed compensation package.
Source: Ian Preston, Vicki White, James Browne, Simon Dresner, Paul Ekins, and Ian Hamilton, Designing Carbon Taxation to Protect Low-Income Households, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Mar
A study examined the distribution of carbon emissions across households in Great Britain, and the implications for energy and climate change policy. Existing policies to reduce household carbon emissions had inequitable impacts: the average impact on household energy bills in England in 2020 was expected to be a 7 per cent reduction for the poorest 10 per cent and a 12 per cent reduction for the richest 10 per cent. This represented a triple injustice: the lowest-income households paid more, benefited less from the policies, and were responsible for the least emissions. A linked paper highlighted the extent to which households' annual domestic CO2 emissions were correlated with income: in general lower-income, more vulnerable households tended to have lower than average CO2 emissions.
Source: Ian Preston, Vicki White, Joshua Thumim, Toby Bridgeman, and Christian Brand, Distribution of Carbon Emissions in the UK: Implications for domestic energy policy, Joseph Rowntree Foundation | Katy Hargreaves, Ian Preston, Vicki White, and Joshua Thumim, The Distribution of Household CO2 Emissions in Great Britain, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | Paper
Date: 2013-Mar
A report examined the effect of fuel poverty on families and children. It said that fuel poverty could have severe and life-long effects on children. Long-term exposure to a cold home could affect weight gain in babies and young children, increase hospital admission rates for children, and increase the severity and frequency of asthmatic symptoms. Children in cold homes were more than twice as likely to suffer from breathing problems, and those in damp and mouldy homes were up to three times more likely to suffer from coughing, wheezing, and respiratory illness, compared with those with warm, dry homes.
Source: Pedro Guertler and Sarah Royston, Fact-File: Families and Fuel Poverty, Association for the Conservation of Energy
Links: Report | Summary | ERB press release
Date: 2013-Feb
A think-tank report called for measures to promote a more competitive energy efficiency market in which charities and other experts could compete for government subsidies alongside bigger energy companies. It said that schemes that changed how households used energy were more than seven times cheaper than building new power generation. Such schemes offered a potentially cost-effective way of cutting carbon emissions. The report also called for the government to work closely with community groups and civil society to act as champions for smart meters.
Source: Guy Newey, Smarter, Greener, Cheaper: Joining up domestic energy efficiency policy, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2013-Jan