British Gas offers green scheme to win back customers
Press Association and Evening Standard /19 April 2007
Source: Thisismoney.co.uk
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/consumer/caring/article.html?in_article_id=419527&in_page_id=511
Britain’s biggest household energy supplier said today it is launching a ‘New Energy’ service aimed at winning over customers worried about their carbon footprint or keen to save money by generating or saving their own power. British Gas New Energy will sell and help install rooftop solar heating panels for customers to heat their own water, and will give people the chance to offset their CO2 emissions through schemes that buy credits from other firms or countries that have exceeded their own targets.
In addition, customers who buy the solar panelling in some areas will be able to earn a discount of up to £500 on their council tax bills through an agreement between British Gas and the local authorities. The solar panel scheme is currently running in Salford, Conwy in North Wales, South Cambridgeshire, Taunton Deane in Somerset, Runnymede in Middlesex and Braintree in Essex, but British Gas said it expected it to be adopted by more local authorities in time. Centrica’s hot water solar panels cost from £4,300.
The business will also provide Energy Performance Certificates, which give energy ratings for homes, and will be mandatory for those selling properties after 1 June this year, when home information packs are introduced. Parent company Centrica estimates the green energy market for homes and businesses could be worth several billion pounds a year, and it has also pledged to cut its own energy usage by 10% by the end of the year.
The new service builds on current schemes available through British Gas’s residential business such as its council tax rebate for people who install loft and wall insulation and the provision of high efficiency boilers. It is also working on a next-generation fuel cell boiler for homes that produce both heat and electricity and could reduce household emissions by up to 50%.
Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica, said: ‘Most UK homes are poorly insulated and the energy loss and emissions levels from them are much higher than they could be. ‘We can use our expertise in the green energy sector to help home owners significantly reduce their impact on the environment and take a lead in this rapidly growing new business area.’
British Gas added it would take a number of years for the new business to have a material impact on earnings. The move comes after a tough time for the business in which its share of the residential gas supply market fell below 50% for the first time since the former state monopoly was privatised. Though it has led the move to bring down energy prices this spring, it has still been accused of profiteering by keeping retail charges high during the energy-using peaks of the winter months.