Posted on December 13, 2010 by Phillip Lee

As a Member of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, I am involved in examining and scrutinising the administration and policy of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. This includes conducting hearings and gathering written and oral evidence from the Energy Secretary, the Ministers and specialists from the industry.

Throughout these Committee hearings it is evident that the security of energy supply is going to be a major challenge for our country going forward. It is well known that there is a direct relationship between energy and prosperity. Personally, I believe that in the ongoing debate on how we will secure our future energy supply, the focus on saving energy must be as strong as on producing energy. Saving energy is one of the most productive things that we as a nation can undertake.

Therefore, I am very pleased that one of the measures in the Government’s forthcoming Energy Security and Green Economy Bill will be a “Green Deal.” The Green Deal is a new and radical way of making energy efficiency affordable for all, whether people own or rent their property. Green Deal customers would get the money upfront to make energy efficiency improvements in the form of a loan. It is anticipated that the loan amount may be up to £6,500. The loan repayments would then attach to the energy bill at a property, rather than to an individual. There are about 14 million insulation measures like loft, cavity and solid wall to be carried out in UK homes and the most energy inefficient homes in the country are estimated to save, on average, around £550 per year. Clearly, the installation of this insulation will create jobs.

The Green Deal will help save carbon, energy and money off fuel bills. In a time when this country has large economic challenges to deal with, finding ways to save energy will go hand in hand with people’s incentive to save money. Energy saving measures will have a positive effect on the economy for individuals, families as well as companies and therefore the Green Deal is exactly what this country needs.