Prime Minister David Cameron promised “the greenest Government ever”and two flagship initiatives were announced – The green Deal and the Green Investment Bank.
One year on, neither policy has come to effect although the plans for the Green Deal at least are now much more detailed. The energy bill currently going through Parliament will provide the primary legislation necessary to enact these measures.
The Green Deal was originally envisaged to provide homeowners with the opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of their properties through an energy services type of agreement. The utilities would install energy efficiency measures and then the consumer would pay back the cost through the energy bills. But beacuse of the enhanced performance, the bills would be lower from Day One. In response to lobbying from a vairety of organisations, including ESTA, the scope of the scheme was soon extended to cover all buildings, including non-domestic ones in both public and private sectors. The Green Deal represents a great opportunity to make a step change in the energy performance of the building stock of this country. However it is not expected to go live until the last quater of 2012.
