On 4 November, the Guardian reported that the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer was looking to cut the national insulation scheme, ECO, which is currently levied on energy bills. While removing the scheme would directly lower household energy bills, it would come at the expense of nationwide insulation and electric heating deployment; expressly aimed at improving the energy efficiency of low-income households.
E3G and Energy UK coordinated a letter to the Chancellor, which agreed that cutting energy bills is important, but that it should not be done by scrapping Great Britain’s primary policy mechanism for tackling fuel poverty. This decision would have a deep and widespread impact on the sector, which is crucial to help households cut their energy bills, make their homes more comfortable to live in, and reduce planet heating greenhouse gas emissions.
The letter, supported by over sixty businesses, energy companies, fuel poverty charities and environmental groups, was published as an exclusive in the Guardian on 8 November. The exclusive emphasised that cutting ECO could collapse the entire insulation industry, putting thousands of people out of work in areas of the country that need good, skilled jobs and remove one of the best methods of permanently reducing energy bills for low-income families.
