Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Richard Graham and Lord Barker of Battle
Gregory Barker
I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. Obviously, it is a commercial decision for each company that operates within the green deal which technologies they are going to stock and offer to their customers. If customers are not satisfied, they should shop around. The great thing about the green deal is that it involves a plethora of choice; there are more than 1,000—I believe there are 1,250 or more—green deal installers now, so customers should shop around. We want to drive choice.
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
T5. The Minister will know that all existing nuclear power stations report operationally to EDF Energy in Barnwood, Gloucester—the home of British nuclear engineering. After my right hon. Friend has agreed the strike price and other details for the next generation of nuclear power stations, will he accept an invitation from me to visit Barnwood and the impressive nuclear academy training ground for so many graduates and apprentices in this vital sector?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Richard Graham and Lord Barker of Battle
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
12. What assessment he has made of the likely effects on household energy bills of changes to the feed-in tariff scheme.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)
We estimate that our new, reformed scheme, upon which we are currently consulting, will add just £8 to the average household energy bill in 2020. That is around £50 less than FITs would have cost if we had continued with the previous policy. Obviously, there is a great deal of uncertainty in these numbers, which depend on future technology costs and market growth.
Richard Graham
Hard-pressed constituents of mine in Gloucester will be grateful for the Minister’s answer. Does he think there are lessons to be learned from Germany in terms of the total amount of energy consumed by households? If we replicated the amounts used in Germany, that would heavily reduce bills in this country.
Gregory Barker
My hon. Friend is right. In Germany, although electricity prices are higher, not least because of the support for renewables, bills are broadly comparable with those in the UK because domestic energy efficiency is much better. That is exactly the sort of transformation that we are determined to drive forward in the UK with the launch of the green deal later this year.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Richard Graham and Lord Barker of Battle(13 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
T9. Solar power offers a great opportunity to reduce both our carbon footprint and our household costs. Will the Minister say what his Department is doing to encourage its use in cities such as mine of Gloucester?
Gregory Barker
We recently launched “Community Energy Online”, which demonstrates to communities and local authorities the easy steps that can be taken to benefit from the range of schemes and initiatives that DECC has already launched and will launch in the future. I encourage people to look at this online initiative, which is easy to access. If my hon. Friend has any feedback about it, I would be delighted to hear it.