Ed Davey, the government’s new Energy and Climate Change Secretary today launched a new offensive, with the creation of a dedicated team within DECC. This has been assembled to spearhead energy efficiency policy and make it more relevant to people’s everyday lives.
The new Energy Efficiency Deployment Office (EEDO) was announced at a meeting with industry at a branch of the John Lewis Partnership in London.
Mr Davey said: “I’m hugely enthusiastic about energy efficiency. It’s the cheapest way of cutting carbon – and cutting bills for consumers. It has to be right at the heart of what we do.
“EEDO will be a centre of expertise, challenging our work and making energy efficiency real and relevant to people’s everyday lives. Two out of three consumers think their home is wasting energy, but only one in three is going to do anything about it. That has to change. We need to get out there and show people what energy efficiency can really do for them.
“The Green Deal will play a huge part in this work and will also support jobs in the insulation and construction industries– as many as 65,000 right across the country by 2015. It can help us deliver a fairer, greener economy. And help us get young people back into work – or into work for the first time.
“The UK has some of the most inefficient housing stock in the EU. But getting this right means as a nation we make energy savings over the next decade equivalent to two nuclear power stations while making everyone’s homes warmer and cheaper to run.
The 50-strong team, which will be based at DECC’s headquarters in London, will pull together expertise from across the Department. EEDO staff will continue to support the delivery of the Green Deal, the rollout of smart meters and the increase in renewable heat as well as developing a new energy efficiency strategy to identify the potential for further energy efficiency across the economy.