Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Energy Company Obligation Scheme in ensuring that households receive an acceptable quality of service by companies under the scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As part of the ongoing evaluation of the current iteration of the Energy Company Obligation scheme, ECO4, we are gathering feedback from a sample of households on their satisfaction with the installation of energy efficiency measures.
Installations of measures under ECO4 are carried out by TrustMark registered businesses and must adhere to the industry-developed Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2035/2030 standards.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the number of households in Wales affected by (a) charges which represent a significant proportion of their income and (b) poor standards of workmanship under the Energy Company Obligation Scheme since July 2022.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) places a requirement on larger energy suppliers to deliver heating and insulation measures to eligible low-income and fuel poor households. Energy suppliers recoup delivery costs through consumer bills.
Homes benefitting from ECO4 will cut approximately £430 off their energy bills.
The Department does not hold data on the number of households affected by poor standards of workmanship under ECO. Through the ongoing evaluation of ECO4, we are gathering feedback from a sample of households on their satisfaction with installations.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Energy Company Obligation redress schemes in ensuring that households receive fair and timely redress for problems arising from the scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The scheme administrator, Ofgem has set out a comprehensive route to redress for any issues arising from measures installed under the scheme, which can be found at: www.ofgem.gov.uk/eco4-complaints-process.
In response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) green heating and insulation review, the government also announced work which is being undertaken to improve consumer protection. A link to the government’s written statement of 21 February 2024 can be found here.
We remain fully committed to protecting all consumers undertaking home retrofit work.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the protection afforded to households who are affected by poor standard of workmanship provided by the companies under the Energy Company Obligation Scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As part of the ongoing evaluation of the current iteration of the Energy Company Obligation, ECO4, we are gathering feedback from a sample of households on their satisfaction with installations. Installation companies must be registered with TrustMark, the UK Government endorsed Quality Scheme for home improvements. TrustMark registered businesses are required to adhere to Publicly Available Specification (PAS) standards, providing a warranty to the householder when a measure is installed in case something goes wrong. Ofgem, the scheme administrator, has a route to redress for consumers should they be dissatisfied with the measures delivered.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the protection afforded to households who are affected by high charges from companies operating under the Energy Company Obligation Scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) places a requirement on larger energy suppliers to deliver heating and insulation measures to eligible households. Energy suppliers are assumed to recoup the cost of delivery through consumer bills. Homes benefitting from ECO4 are assumed to cut an average of £430 off their annual energy bills based on the latest price cap.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of expanding the ECO4 scheme eligibility criteria to include households with a total annual income above £30,000.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Households may qualify for support under ECO4 where a member of the household receives a qualifying means-tested benefit, regardless of the total household income.
The Flexible Eligibility element of the scheme (ECO Flex) allows a gross combined household income of £31,000, with additional routes (not based on income) for households where a member has been diagnosed with a specific long-term health condition which could be impacted by living in a cold home.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many gigawatt hours of electricity the Maentwrog hydro-electric power station has generated in of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Generation figures for individual power stations are collected under commercial confidentiality agreements. Aggregate totals for electricity generated from hydro in Wales are published in an Energy Trends article available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-december-2023-special-feature-article-electricity-generation-and-supply-in-scotland-wales-northern-ireland-and-england-2018-to-2022
The Department does not collect power station revenue data.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much net revenue has the Maentwrog hydro-electric power station generated in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Generation figures for individual power stations are collected under commercial confidentiality agreements. Aggregate totals for electricity generated from hydro in Wales are published in an Energy Trends article available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-december-2023-special-feature-article-electricity-generation-and-supply-in-scotland-wales-northern-ireland-and-england-2018-to-2022
The Department does not collect power station revenue data.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made a recent assessment of the impact of rising (a) electricity and (b) gas prices on places of worship.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Secretary of State has not made these specific assessments. However, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) has provided all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users, including places of worship, with a baseline discount on high energy bills, since April 2023 and until 31 March 2024. The EBDS replaced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which has successfully delivered support of £7.4 billion to cut energy costs for businesses.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of supporting places of worship with high electricity and gas costs.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Secretary of State has not made these specific assessments. However, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) has provided all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users, including places of worship, with a baseline discount on high energy bills, since April 2023 and until 31 March 2024. The EBDS replaced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which has successfully delivered support of £7.4 billion to cut energy costs for businesses.