THE Government must make amendments to the Energy Bill currently
being debated in the House of Commons, in order to protect the
"fuel poor" and "decarbonise" the country's energy supply, the
Church of England's environment campaign has said.
A briefing for MPs, produced by the C of E, the Methodist,
Baptist, and United Reformed Churches, and the Quakers, argues that
the proposal to delay, until 2016, the setting of a target for
reducing the emission of carbon dioxide by 2030 "fails to reflect
the urgency of the situation we face" (News, 30
November).
It also warns that the complexity of Contracts for Difference -
a mechanism designed to incentivise investments in low-carbon
energy - might deter small generators. It calls on the Government
to include in the Bill a mechanism to encourage energy efficiency
that could help households to reduce energy bills. The Department
of Energy and Climate Change has estimated that fuel poverty will
have affected almost four million people in 2012.
"It is important that demand-reduction measures . . . are
central to the Energy Bill and the Government's overall energy
strategy," the briefing concludes.
The Energy Bill, published in draft form on 29 November, sets
out plans for radical reforms of the electricity market.