Partner Article

Energy price cuts won’t go far enough

The government’s response to concerns over energy price hikes has so far predominantly focused on the cost of bills rather than a reduction in our energy usage – by far the simplest method to cut expensive charges, says Derek Duffill, Partner at Energy Works PLC.

With energy high on the government’s agenda this year, I would like to see the chancellor introduce measures that will enable the UK to dramatically reduce its energy usage. We have been told by Ed Davey that a mere 10% reduction in energy usage by 2030 would save the UK £4billion in energy bills and nearly five million tonnes of carbon dioxide. It is clear that creating less electricity will minimise the pressure on an already creaking National Grid system while simultaneously cutting our carbon emissions and energy bills for both households and businesses alike.

Rumours indicate however, that the Government will opt instead to simply cut green levies and find populist ways in which to reduce homeowners’ bills by relatively insignificant sums. Although these methods will trigger an immediate reduction in bills, a lack of investment in green technology will only serve to raise energy costs over the long term and leave the nation with an inability to meet the needs of a growing population that is increasingly dependent on electricity.

By far the cheapest and easiest method of making this change is by introducing clean technology, such as LEDs, which offer an affordable yet sustainable solution to traditional light bulbs. Lighting alone accounts for 19% of the UK’s energy usage, with up to 75% of it being used wastefully. It is only by enforcing new policies which encourage the implementation of clean tech that the UK will be able to address the looming energy crisis we are currently facing.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Energy Works PLC .