New scheme for cutting energy bills

18/10/11

By Yamurai Zendera

The Government is set to bring in new reforms to give energy companies incentives for getting households to cut their energy bills.

Ministers are looking to introduce 'feed-in tariffs' which will pay fixed prices to utility firms over a set period if they generate electricity through cleaner means such as nuclear and wind.

But the Green Alliance believes the Government should go further by introducing an extra feed in tariff. It wants this to pay businesses for the electricity savings they get consumers to make, saying this would avoid them having to build new power plants.

Green Alliance believes the scheme would open up the market to more competition and bring in new ideas such as paying consumers to reduce energy use or funding them to upgrade inefficient appliances.

It feels an energy efficiency feed-in tariff would cost just half what it would to generate the electricity consumers otherwise use.