Energy efficiency, not bailouts, says CBI director general

CBI director-general Tony Danker has called on the government to make “an all-out national effort” on energy efficiency and ditch the expensive handouts.

Speaking at the opening the CBI’s Annual Net-Zero Conference earlier this week, Danker criticised the government’s approach of spending billions on energy bill bailouts and argued in favour of making energy efficiency a ‘new normal’.

With some of the oldest, leakiest buildings in Europe, homes in the UK lose heat up to three times faster than more energy efficient homes in countries such as Germany, Danker told his audience.

Experts say retrofitting homes to improve energy efficiency could save households around £500 for homes with an EPC rating of ‘D’ upgraded to a ‘C’. Businesses can save too. It’s estimated UK SMEs could reduce their energy bills by up to a quarter through installing LED lighting, smart tech and other efficiency measures.

However, it is estimated that Tory cuts to climate policies over the last decade, including energy efficiency measures, have added around £2.5bn to the nation’s energy bills.

“To be on track to achieve our targets,” Danker said, “the UK needs to invest around £5.2bn every year to 2035 in making homes more energy efficient. That sounds expensive, but higher energy bills and resulting inflation just cost the Chancellor £22 billion worth of support in the spring, £15 billion in May, and we haven’t reached October yet.”

Danker said the government’s Energy Security Strategy wrongly focused energy producers to the exclusion of energy users, where an impact can be made almost immediately.

“The Strategy gives backing to nuclear power and hydrogen and recognises the need to speed up the roll-out of renewables. But what it fails to do is say anything about the demand side. Now, I know that demand measures – like asking people to turn down their thermostat – goes against every libertarian instinct of the Prime Minister and others in his Cabinet.

“But I think they’re wrong. Energy waste is like food waste. It has no justification. It is not good for anyone. And there are lots of ways to help people bring down their bills. Going green will cut people’s energy bills by giving people more power to use less energy and limit the impact of rising fossil fuels prices on their lives.”