Businesses forced wait for green deal
DECC has confirmed it will not be rolling out its flagship energy-efficiency funding scheme to businesses when it is launched in the autumn
The proposed green deal offers homeowners and organisations a way of improving the energy efficiency of their properties without having to pay the costs of projects upfront. Instead companies, including B&Q and E.ON, will install measures, such as cavity wall insulation, and receive payment via the savings made on subsequent energy bills.
It had been assumed that both the domestic and non-domestic green deal would launch simultaneously, however, DECC has now confirmed the business side will be delayed due to concerns raised by the companies offering services under the scheme.
“In our discussions with industry, they said they would rather that the green deal for business was launched slightly behind the domestic green deal so we had bit more time to resolve some of the complexities [associated with businesses],” a DECC spokesperson told the environmentalist.
The delay will allow the scheme operators and regulators to solve problems such as where a business is billed for multiple sites on the same bill, but only improves one through the green deal, the spokesperson said.
While unable to say how long the business green deal will be postponed, the DECC spokesperson stated: “We certainly wouldn’t want it to be far apart from the domestic green deal… But we want to make sure that when we launch something it is right and it’s ready to be used.”
The delay will not affect all businesses, however, with small firms operating from domestic properties able to participate in the scheme when it is launched.
The green deal is due to begin in October, although the energy department has confirmed it will be limiting the number of applications in what it describes as a “managed launch”.
“We haven’t decided how yet, but [we will] certainly be controlling the numbers to begin with so we can make sure that all the systems work,” said the spokesperson.