Weekly News Round-Up - 14/10/13
It’s that time again! The Duncan Renewables weekly news round-up is back with all of the latest news from the renewable and general energy sector.
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Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) launch the “Roadmap to a Brighter Future” – DECC 10/10/13
Installed solar PV capacity increased 25-fold from 94 MW at the end of 2010 to a staggering 2,413 MW at the end of June 2013. Ministers have now recognised the potential contribution that solar PV’s can bring to the UK economy. With the launch of the “Roadmap to a Brighter Future”, ministers have set out the vision for the future of solar PV ahead of the UK’s first ever Solar PV strategy, which will be published in spring next year. This roadmap will plan how the government and the overall solar PV sector will achieve certainty for investors, developers, households and businesses and further build on its unprecedented growth.
Minister Greg Barker officially launched the Solar Roadmap stating that “Solar PV has now taken its rightful place as a mainstream renewable energy technology” and that it is “at the centre of the Government’s policies to achieve our 2020 renewable energy targets”.
Read the official statement here
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SSE to raise gas and electricity prices by 8.2% – BBC News 10/10/13
SSE announced this week that gas and electricity prices will go up by more than £100 to a record level of £1,465. Ministers are consequently urging households to leave Scottish & Southern Energy.
SSE customers will see a rise of 8.2% rise in their gas and electricity prices from 15 November, which is the first price rise to be announced by one of the ‘Big Six’ energy companies with others expected to follow suit in the near future. With seven million customers to be affected, SSE also faced criticism for increasing the standing charge for vulnerable customers and scrapping prompt payment discounts and loyalty bonuses.
Ed Davey, energy and climate change secretary, stated that half of the energy bill is made up of the wholesale cost of gas and electricity and further continued that: “this far outweighs the proportion of a bill that goes to help vulnerable households with their bills and to cut energy waste” and investment should be increasingly encourage “in the new low-carbon energy generation we need to keep the lights on.”
Would increasing energy prices prompt you to make the renewable switch?
Read more here
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Energy efficiency funds for poor households may be cut- The Guardian 11/10/13
Downing Street has confirmed that the government is looking at cutting financial support for energy efficiency in poorer households as part of a drive to bring down the overall cost of fuel bills.
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) would be targeted by ministers as they look to help consumers with their fuel bills. In reducing the obligation, government figures suggest that £1.3bn a year could be saved, which makes up 4% – or £47 – of an average annual bill.
This reduction in energy saving initiatives comes amidst the current political rows surrounding the upcoming energy price hikes by the ‘Big 6’ group of energy companies.
Read the full story here
