Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department has taken to lessen the upfront cost of retrofitting for (a) lower- and (b) middle-income households.
Answered by Graham Stuart
To support households with the upfront costs of retrofitting, the Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament on clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings, and a further £6 billion of new Government funding will be made available from 2025 to 2028.
In addition, the Energy Company Obligation and GB Insulation Scheme, worth £5 billion in total, offer free or highly subsidised retrofits to lower and middle-income households living in energy inefficient homes.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department has taken to support people in the private rental sector to access retrofitting schemes.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is spending £6bn this Parliament and a further £6bn to 2028 on making buildings cleaner and warmer. In addition, £5bn will be delivered through the Energy Company Obligation and the Great British Insulation Scheme up to March 2026.
In September, the Government launched a new eligibility tool on its ‘Help for Households’ GOV.UK page to help people find the support available to them via the Home Upgrade Grant and the Great British Insulation Scheme.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the Warm Home Discount in line with the increases to the Ofgem price cap.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
From winter 2022 the Government extended and expanded the Warm Home Discount to support more households in fuel poverty, by increasing the spending envelope from £350m to £475m (in 2020 prices) and also raising the rebate to £150. This winter, we expect over 3 million households to receive the increased rebate.
As the scheme is funded by participating energy suppliers, we have struck a balance between supporting as many households as possible, providing meaningful support, and limiting the impact on wider consumer bills.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps is her Department is taking to support customers with rising levels of energy consumer debt.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government recognises the challenges posed by the impact of high energy bills and debt and is already providing extensive financial support to households. The Government provided nearly £40 billion to protect households and businesses from spiralling energy bills over last winter.
Ofgem recently announced new customer service standards to help support those who maybe struggling with their bills this winter, including requirements on suppliers to: contact customers if they miss payments, offer support such as affordable payment plans if they are struggling, prioritise vulnerable customers and offer free contact methods for people struggling to pay their bills.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the revised target for the phasing out of fossil fuel boilers in off-grid homes will apply to Wales.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In September 2023, my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister announced the Government will push back the end date for installing oil, LPG and coal heating systems in England to 2035. As this is a devolved policy, it is for the Welsh Government to consider steps to decarbonise off gas grid homes in Wales.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of replacing electric central heating with heat pumps on levels of (a) fuel poverty and (b) carbon emissions.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government considers the impact of policies on fuel poor households, including those households that replace their electric heating with heat pumps.
Heat pumps are around three times more efficient than direct electric heating, implying a two-thirds reduction in electricity consumption. The impact on carbon emissions will depend on the carbon intensity of the grid. Under current assumptions the Government estimates 9 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent reduction over the lifetime of the heat pump for a typical home that was heated by direct electric heating.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the number of smart meters that have been installed but cannot connect to the network in each Local Authority in Wales.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Department published data on the proportion of operational smart meters by local authority across Great Britain, in its Q1 2023 statistics report. This can be accessed at www.gov.uk by searching for ‘Smart meter statistics March 2023’.
Ninety one percent of the 32.4 million smart and advanced meters in homes and small businesses are operating as intended. We do not hold data on the number of non-operational meters or T3 aerial installations by local authority.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many requests have been (a) made and (b) denied for T3 aerial to enable the installation of smart meters in properties in each Local Authority in Wales.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Department published data on the proportion of operational smart meters by local authority across Great Britain, in its Q1 2023 statistics report. This can be accessed at www.gov.uk by searching for ‘Smart meter statistics March 2023’.
Ninety one percent of the 32.4 million smart and advanced meters in homes and small businesses are operating as intended. We do not hold data on the number of non-operational meters or T3 aerial installations by local authority.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many and what proportion of households in each Welsh Local Authority had smart meters installed on 1 July 2023.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Department published data on the proportion of operational smart meters by local authority across Great Britain, in its Q1 2023 statistics report. This can be accessed at www.gov.uk by searching for ‘Smart meter statistics March 2023’.
Ninety one percent of the 32.4 million smart and advanced meters in homes and small businesses are operating as intended. We do not hold data on the number of non-operational meters or T3 aerial installations by local authority.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that the prices charged by operators of electric vehicle charging stations reflect changes to the wholesale price of electricity.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is committed to working with industry to keep costs down and deliver fair electric vehicle charging prices while also ensuring the financial health and attractiveness to investors of the sector . As part of this work, we are introducing regulations to improve the consumer experience across the public charging network. To ensure pricing transparency, these regulations will mandate use of a common pricing metric, allowing consumers to compare prices in a single format.