energy news

British Gas launches Green Deal offer


19th July, 2011

British Gas launches Green Deal offer

19th July 2011

British Gas,  announced massive hikes in both its electricity and gas prices, has today become the first energy supplier to launch a Green Deal-style offering, promising to slash householders' electricity bills.
British Gas is calling its proposal the Home Energy Plan and said it would work like the Government's upcoming Green Deal but would be "more flexible". It said the proposal would help customers save £321 on average per annum.

"Britain's housing stock is some of the most inefficient in the developed world with £1 in every £4 spent on heating our homes wasted because of poor insulation. Under our offer, customers can improve their homes and save money by cutting bills – all at no upfront cost," said Jon Kimber, managing director of British Gas New Energy.

The Government's Green Deal, which launches next year, will provide loans to households and businesses wanting to improve the energy efficiency of their properties through measures such as insulation, heating and lighting, with no upfront cost. Under the 'Golden Rule', loan repayments are guaranteed not to exceed the cost savings brought about by the energy efficiency improvements throughout the financing period.

Home Energy Plan
A spokesperson for British Gas said the Home Energy Plan, which is effective immediately, will work like the Green Deal and enable customers to invest in green measures with no upfront costs and benefit from the 'Golden Rule'. But he said there would be other payment options also on the table.

"It's more flexible than the Green Deal […] Some customers will want to invest in bigger projects and pay a deposit and pay it over a five year period, for example," he said.

Measures available
Households will be able to take advantage of range of measures from cavity wall and loft insulation and energy-saving voltage optimisation units through to renewable technologies such as solar panels and air source heat pumps. A new generation of boiler that also generates electricity for use in the home, will be another measure available under the plan.

Energy experts
The spokesperson confirmed British Gas business tariffs has so far trained up 50 energy experts to provide free, no-obligation surveys for business and households through its Home Energy Plan. The experts will show customers, room by room, the tailored measures homes can take advantage of and the annual savings they could make as a result.

Price hikes
The launch of the Home Energy Plan follows the announcement earlier this month by British Gas that it was raising its electricity and gas prices by between 16 per cent and 18 per cent. The spokesperson for British Gas, however, denied that the price hikes were subsidising the Home Energy Plan.

He said the company had no immediate plans to launch a Green Deal offer for business customers.



<< back to news