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The smart meter roll out should be used as an opportunity to assess every home for their energy efficiency performance, Labour peer Lord Whitty has urged.
Speaking exclusively to Utility Week, Whitty said that if the roll-out was associated with the kind of assessment already done under the Green Deal, it would affect a “step-change within energy efficiency in total”.
“The Green Deal hasn’t worked, there has been a cut back on the energy efficiency improvements that come under ECO – although the government will deny that – and we don’t know what’s going to happen beyond 2017. But we do know that we are going to have a smart meter programme rolling for at least another five years and that will mean access to every single house in the country.”
He said that while the association between the two should have been introduced from the start, it would be possible to implement as early as 18 months time.
Whitty said that the real success of the Green Deal scheme is in the number of assessments that have been undertaken, which according to Government is around half a million. But after the asessement the efficiency work is often then financed by means other than the scheme’s loan system.
Whitty said this shows that an obligated energy efficiency assessment as part of the roll-out would be affective as “once it has been pointed out [to people], they are prepared to find ways of meeting [the cost],” and the roll-out would provide access to almost 100 per cent of homes.
To be able to perform the assessment Whitty said suppliers would need to partner with an independent assessor who would look beyond just the smart meter installation.
On calls for the roll-out to be given to Distribution Network Operators (DNO)s, Whitty said it is a good idea, but it is too late for the change to happen immediately. It could be possible to be put into affect from 2018 onwards, he suggested.
“If [joining up smart meter and energy efficiency delivery] was associated with a longer term switch to the DNOs that would be quite a strategic change, but one that would be beneficial in terms of the economies and delivery.”
Whitty’s proposed step-change could address mounting concerns for both the smart meter roll out and the implementation of greater energy efficiency.
Last week the NIA called on government to give energy companies post-2017 clarity on its energy efficiency plans as it has become apparent that energy companies will fulfil their ECO obligations 12 months before the scheme’s end date.
This follows calls from the Institute of Directors for the smart meter roll-out to be halted, altered or scrapped.
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