How HeatingSave Helps Businesses | Page 21

A council says it is saving more than £3,000 a month by turning off some street lights after midnight. Carmarthenshire council ensures that 3,000 of the lights within its jurisdiction are dimmed in the early hours of the morning.

In a move which has been widely predicted but is still unwelcome nevertheless, British Gas is putting up gas prices by 18 per cent and electricity prices by 16% from August 18, 2011. The utility last raised its rates back in December 2010 by 6.9% for gas and 6.7% for electricity. This means British Gas customers will have seen their bills increase by one-quarter in the last year alone. The firm has blamed the rises on the increasing wholesale cost of gas.

In what it has called the continued rationalisation of its windfarm portfolio, one of the ‘Big Six’ energy providers has sold off assets – but this is not likely to prevent it raising bills later in the year.

More details have emerged concerning the Green Deal scheme which is designed to help people pay for home insulation and other energy saving measures. The plan is for authorised companies to pay for the insulation work and homeowners will repay the money, plus interest, through additional charges on their energy bills. Climate change minister Greg Barker said: “The Green Deal is the government’s flagship energy saving plan to transform the country’s homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run.”

The owner of British Gas has hinted that it will raise prices for its gas and electricity customers again. Centrica’s statement to investors warned them to expect lower profits for the first half of 2011. The energy giant said “retail margin recovery” would boost its profits in the second half of the year to make up for this. Already in May Centrica said its customers were not paying enough to reflect the increased cost of gas on the wholesale market.

Small and medium-sized businesses are finding it more difficult to become more energy efficient, according to one expert. Smaller businesses have less funding to siphon off resources for green measures, says Professor Ross King, joint programme director at the Centre for Sustainable Environmental Management-Brunel Management Programme.

Solar companies are taking legal action over cuts to the UK feed-in tariff. On Tuesday (April 19) they filed for a judicial review against Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, for his decision to review the tariffs that boost revenues for renewable power. Earlier in the year ministers said they would end subsidies to large-scale solar power installations from this summer to ensure all money available would go to small commercial or household installations.

New energy bill rules have come into effect from industry watchdog Ofgem. In a bid to protect consumers from unexpected bills, utility providers will now have to give 30 days’ notice of any price increases or changes in their contract that will make customers worse off. Under the previous system, energy firms had up to three months after making changes before they were required to notify customers. The firms have also been criticised for the timing of winter price rises.

The European Commission is planning a minimum tax on fuel for member states which would mean a rise in diesel prices. Under the plans, a new tax based on the carbon content of fuels would apply across member states, at a minimum of €20 per tonne of carbon dioxide. This is likely to affect diesel more than petrol, because most countries currently tax diesel more lightly. Connie Hedegaard, European commissioner for climate change, said: “It will encourage energy efficiency.”

The company that owns British Gas has warned that customers may face higher energy bills. Centrica said “end-user prices” did not reflect the price it was paying for gas on the wholesale market. The firm said in a statement: “In the UK, the forward wholesale prices of gas and power for delivery in winter 2011/12 are currently around 25% higher than prices last winter, with end-user prices yet to reflect this higher wholesale market price environment.”

Almost half of office workers said their offices have become more energy efficient since the recession began. The YouGov survey also found 57 per cent of those polled said their green workplace has led to reduced costs, so it seems ‘going green’ has resulted in managers saving money. The survey also discovered that popular green measures in offices included turning off computer equipment when not in use (67 per cent did so).

Higher fuel bills have been identified as the major cause of inflation, which is predicted to rise to 5 per cent later this year. Speaking on the publication of the Bank of England’s latest Inflation Report, its governor Mervyn King said there remained strong downward pressures on economic growth and upward pressures on inflation. The Bank’s report has included an assumption that gas prices may increase 15 per cent and electricity prices by 10% this winter.