The government is quietly planning fundamental changes in consumer behaviour in Britain. Making its appearance in the Lords today is the Energy Security and Green Economy Bill, a bill that could start to change the way the nation thinks about energy.
It will encourage us all to make our homes more energy-efficient – by adding the cost of doing so to our energy bills and spreading the payback over the next 20 years or so. The carrot is that we are guaranteed to save more on our energy than we spend.
The idea is to get organisations – from big brands to local authorities – to encourage, sell and then support us all in improving the energy efficiency of our homes. Energy companies will also be obliged to give additional support to those on low incomes and in solid-walled homes, to overcome the higher financial barriers.
But how to get consumers to sign up to these offers is an issue that has not yet been fully tackled.
Research by Consumer Focus, the statutory consumer champion, earlier this year showed that only 56% of people are prepared to change their behaviour to help limit climate change. This is significantly fewer than when the Department for Transport posed the question in 2006.
The research also found that less than half the population are prepared to insulate their homes properly, partly because of the disruption to their lives while the work is taking place. In addition, consumer confidence in the energy and housing markets and in home maintenance is among the lowest in the economy.
The Green Deal, the coalition government's initiative to support the implementation of energy efficiency measures to households and businesses without their needing to meet any upfront costs will be developed next year. Which gives an opportunity to address this lack of consumer confidence.
Strong protection for consumers to discourage mis-selling and poor service will be vital to the success of this initiative. As well as this, positive word-of-mouth promotion will be crucial in the short-term to deliver the potential long-term benefits of the Green Deal for consumers and the environment. Reinvigorating and improving the way consumers, business, voluntary and community organisations, and government are engaged in climate change issues can make this happen.
Lucy Yates is Principal Policy Advocate at Consumer Focus
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