Green Deal: the first month in figures

The first monthly Green Deal figures reveal that 1,803 people have had assessments. Is this a good start? Mathew Beech reports.

“The Green Deal is very much up and running,” declared energy secretary Ed Davey in a blog for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) last week. It coincided with the release of the first monthly figures on the Green Deal, which reveal that 1,803 people have had Green Deal assessments completed.

Further to this, 77 assessor organisations have been registered and there are a total of 619 approved Green Deal advisers.

The Energy Company Obligation (Eco) brokerage system – where Green Deal providers anonymously sell “lots” of future energy-saving measures to energy companies – has also seen £26.9 million of contracts signed.

Genuine interest

Davey says this is a good start for the government’s flagship energy efficiency programme. “It’s hugely encouraging to see this level of genuine consumer interest in such a short period,” he writes.

This optimism for the Green Deal was shared in the Twittersphere by Green Deal providers, including GHE Solar – “#GreenDeal interest is phenomenal, so many plans in the pipeline waiting to progress to installation! 2013 will be the greenest year ever!” – and the Green Deal Shop – “100s of enquiries daily #Green Deal.”

Angela Knight, chief executive of Energy UK, isn’t as full of praise as Davey, but she says the figures are “a positive first step” and reveal that consumers are “gradually beginning to seize the opportunity to upgrade their homes”.

“There is still much work to be done in reaching and assisting people to take advantage of the scheme, and we hope to see these numbers rise quickly over the coming weeks and months,” says Knight.

This hope for growth is shared by Andrew Warren, director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy (Ace).

‘Incidental’ figures

Warren tells Utility Week that the first month’s figures are “incidental” because you cannot read anything into them. “Obviously if it stays at this level it will be a bit of a niche programme, but there is no reason it shouldn’t build,” he adds.

Warren says the key figure published by Decc is the number of registered Green Deal providers, which coupled with the government’s cashback offer on Green Deal-approved measures, will help drive assessments and installations.

“The more Green Deal providers, the better. It is important to get the infrastructure right – the fact that there are over 40 is encouraging,” he says.

Shadow climate change minister Luciana Berger says Nationwide is offering energy efficiency loans at 2.29 per cent – less than the 6.96 per cent available through Green Deal finance packages. Labour backbenchers David Hanson and Andrew Gwynne say the interest rates with Green Deal finance are “too high to encourage take-up”.

However, climate change minister Greg Barker responds by saying the Green Deal finance loans are competitive for unsecured loans and offer vulnerable people access to affordable finance. “This actually represents a really good deal,” he maintains.