Yesterday (Tuesday 31 October 2023), Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley saw the benefits of the energy regulator’s robust enforcement action when he visited our office, and joined us at a community event at the nearby Cherry Tree shopping centre in Wallasey (pictured).  

Thanks to us bidding successfully for a grant of £446,898 through the Energy Redress Scheme, our “Warm and Well” project is delivering energy advice to residents from Birkenhead to Bollington with household energy saving tips, understanding bills, how to contact suppliers and accessing grants and schemes for home energy improvements, all as part of our mission to reduce fuel poverty.  

Energy Projects Plus Chief Executive, Peter Owen, said: “The Energy Redress scheme provides vital support to our organisation. It enables us to give free advice and assistance to vulnerable residents across Cheshire and Merseyside, meaning they can keep warm and well in their home at a cost they can afford.”

Ofgem’s tough enforcement activity means that when an energy company breaches its service level requirements, the company is issued with a penalty notice. If improvements are not subsequently made, this can result in a fine. These penalty monies are then channelled into the Energy Redress Fund, and Energy Saving Trust helps make sure this cash goes to the right places, people and projects.  

With a rise of 100,000 in the number of fuel poor households in England to 3.26 million in 2022, meaning that 13.9% of households across Cheshire and Merseyside are in fuel poverty, this support is now more vital than ever.

Energy Saving Trust took on the management of the Energy Redress scheme in 2018 and have already redistributed over £100 million from Ofgem fines to targeted projects, meaning that over 500,000 households have also been reached with energy advice. 

At the visit, Jonathan Brearley met customers and staff and heard how the service customers are getting from some energy suppliers is still not good enough.  

Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley said: “Although it is great to see the money from our enforcement action making a positive difference in the local area, I am disheartened to hear that some customers can still not get through to their supplier on the phone, despite the minimum standards we have put in place. It is clear that more still needs to be done.” 

Tom Pridgeon interviews Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brierley

While visiting our office, Jonathan was interviewed for BBC Radio Merseyside, by reporter Tom Pridgeon. You can listen to the interview via our YouTube channel, here: https://youtu.be/6E7aUE_FaXk

Energy Projects Plus has helped over 9,000 households across the Wirral over the last year alone, and is pioneering joined up approaches such as GP heat referrals, as well as a study with Liverpool University.

We’re delighted to announce the return of the LEAP Boiler Scheme, which is an annual scheme, supporting vulnerable homeowners to access a free repair or replacement of central heating boilers they rely on as their primary source of heating.

We expect the scheme to run to the end of March 2024, or until funds are exhausted, whichever is sooner.

The eligibility and referral process is as follows:

LEAP Boiler Criteria

Homeowners with a broken boiler and in a “no heat situation” must meet the following criteria:

Claiming a means tested benefits

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income Support
• Pension Guarantee Credit
• Child Tax Credit / Working Tax Credit
• Universal credit
• Housing Benefit

Or – Total annual household income less than £31,000

And

There must be someone in the household who is:

• Aged 65 or over, or
• Aged under 5, or
• Suffering from one of the following health conditions,
• Cancer / Terminal illness
• Cardiovascular condition
• Respiratory condition
• Disability (affecting mobility)
• Mental Health Condition

Referral Process

• Refer your clients/tenants to us using the “General Referral Form”, found here: www.epplus.org.uk/referrals
• Please make sure on your referral that you select the option confirming the client is in a no heat situation.
• Upon receipt of your referral we will check client eligibility for a LEAP home visit. It is only during the home visit that the LEAP assessor will register the client as being eligible for support through the LEAP Boiler Scheme. This cannot be actioned outside a home visit.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority launches second round of group-buying scheme for solar panels to help residents and small businesses cut energy bills and carbon emissions

• More homeowners to see the benefits of solar panels and battery storage
• First round of group-buying scheme saw 585 homes fitted with solar panels
• Solar Together 2022 reduced installation costs by up to 33%
• £5m investment across city region to deliver 10,300 tonnes of carbon reduction over 25 years

Many more homes across the Liverpool City Region are set to be fitted with energy-saving solar panels and battery storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging points with the repeat of a successful money-saving, group-buying scheme.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, launched Solar Together last year to enable residents to cut their energy costs while also reducing their carbon emissions

It is part of a raft of measures to enable the city region to reach the ambitious target to be Net Zero by 2040 or sooner.

A total of 585 installations were completed during the first round of the scheme, which reduced installation costs by up to 33% for a typical 14-panel layout.

The £5m invested by residents is predicted to deliver 10,300 tonnes of carbon reduction over 25 years – equivalent to taking 5,700 cars off the roads for a year.

Councillor David Baines, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Portfolio Holder for Net Zero and Air Quality, said:

“There is clearly a demand for solar panels to cut energy bills and to help the environment but for many people the process can seem complicated and finding a trustworthy contractor daunting.

“Solar Together helps to address those concerns by offering a simpler way to make the leap – last year’s scheme was popular and hopefully that success will encourage and reassure others.

“We know that we will need to halve our total energy use as a city region to hit our target of being net zero carbon by 2040 or sooner and every house and business that can produce its own energy takes it that much closer to our target.”

Once registrations have closed, pre-approved solar installation specialists will bid to complete the work in a reverse-auction. Purchasing at scale in this way offers residents better value than buying as an individual.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has already fitted energy-saving features free-of-charge to more than 2,500 properties occupied by low-income households across the city region, as part of a £105million programme to retrofit 10,000 homes.

Anyone who want to register for the scheme should visit: www.solartogether.co.uk/lcr

How does Solar Together work?

• From 28 August until 27 October: Householders can register online to become part of the group for free and without obligation.

• Pre-approved UK solar PV suppliers participate in an auction. They are able to offer competitive pricing as the volume and geographic concentration makes it possible for them to realise greater efficiencies, which they pass on with lower prices for installations.

• After the auction, registered households will be emailed a personal recommendation which is specific to the details they submitted in their registration.

• If they choose to accept their recommendation, the specifics of their installation will be confirmed with a technical survey after which a date can be set for the installation of their solar PV system.

• All installations will be completed by 15 June 2024

• Telephone and email helpdesks are on-hand throughout the whole process which, together with information sessions, will allow households to make an informed decision in a safe and hassle-free environment.

Formerly known as BESN (Big Energy Saving Network), Energy Outreach Project is managed nationally by Citizens Advice, and delivered locally by charities such as Energy Projects Plus.

The project starts each year in summer, and runs through to the end of March. Local organisations can deliver an “Energy Champion” project, and/or a “Regional Energy Lead” project, each contributing to the national targets, in different ways. Energy Projects Plus is pleased to announce we have been successful for bidding for both projects.

Katie delivering an energy efficiency advice stall

Energy Champion
Energy Projects Plus has delivered these Energy Champion projects since 2013. This year we have 2 Energy Champions, with a combined target of engaging with 400 vulnerable energy consumers, in order to provide energy efficiency advice and support out in the community. We will attend as many events as possible, delivering our service from our energy efficiency advice stall. Visitors to our stalls can ask our expert Energy Advisors any questions they have about energy bills/keeping warm, take literature on topics of interest, and keep a the pen they use to complete our advice record slip.

Regional Energy Lead
Energy Projects Plus has delivered this project for the past four years, and is pleased to be delivering it again this year. Each region is assigned two Energy Leads. So, while our usual ‘patch’ is Merseyside and Cheshire, for the purposes of Energy Outreach Project, we are a Regional Energy Lead for the whole of the Northwest.

There are two distinct functions of this role:

Dom delivering a talk about Condensation, Damp & Mould

 

1. To deliver training on the topic of energy efficiency to front-line workers (staff and/or volunteers) who engage with potentially vulnerable residents. This training is short (usually an hour), informal, can be delivered face-to-face, or online, and its purpose is to empower individuals who might not normally engage with clients/tenants/members about energy efficiency, to provide some basic advice, and also to know where to refer people for further advice and support.
2. To provide support to Energy Champions. This includes a minimum of a monthly catch up with the Energy Champions in the area, and the delivery of two peer-to-peer support events where Energy Champions are encouraged to meet up, share best practice, and seek resolutions to any queries they might have around advice and delivery.

If you are planning a community event and you’d like an Energy Champion to attend, contact events@epplus.org

If you’re interested in receiving an “Affordable Warmth Briefing Session” delivered by one of our trainers, you can view any “open” sessions and book (free) tickets for yourself and your colleagues via our Event Brite page, here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/energy-projects-plus-29600230283. If you have a group of 8 or more people and would like to request an in-house briefing session, please contact training@epplus.org.

Energy Projects Plus, based in Wallasey, has won a grant of £350,000 to develop a “retrofit buddies” scheme, which will provide one-to-one support for people having energy efficiency measures installed in their homes.

The retrofit buddy will work with the householder to co-design a Personal Action Plan and will then provide advice and support throughout the process.

The scheme is one of seven across the North West, supported with £4m from the Government’s Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) Programme for England.

The North West Net Zero Hub is working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to deliver the programme funding innovative projects piloting new approaches to providing local in-person energy advice.

Read more: Liverpool City Region turns up the heat on retrofitting programme after securing further £42m

North West Net Zero Hub is a regional programme to promote investment in energy projects. It is hosted by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Given the recent rise in the number of properties defined as being fuel poor – 13.4% across England in 2022 – the programme is particularly focused on providing energy advice to hard-to-reach customers, such as older people and those with limited internet access.

The data gathered will be used to develop future schemes to reduce fuel poverty, that has a strong link with poor health and quality of life.

Additionally, given the need to retrofit around 1 million properties per year to meet the Government’s net zero objectives, the programme will focus on accelerating decarbonisation within the harder-to-treat property market. These properties are often characterised as being hard-to-treat due to their age and specific building type.

Read more: Free energy-saving measures available to low-income households across the Liverpool City Region

James Johnson, Head of Regional Programme at North West Net Zero Hub, said:

“The North West Net Zero Hub is delighted to be supporting Energy Projects Plus, along with six other projects through the Local Energy Advice Demonstrator competition. This is exciting news for the North West, and a great opportunity for talented North West organisations to carry out innovative approaches, supporting residents to make homes warmer and bills cheaper.”

Peter Owen, Chief Executive of Energy Projects Plus, said:

“A key part of our charity’s work is making energy savings as achievable as possible to those who may otherwise face difficulties in accessing grants or services. This most welcome support from the LEAD pilot programme will make a huge difference to our work and local residents’ ability to maintain a warm and healthy home at an affordable cost.”

• Funding part of £4 million for seven North West projects from Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) Programme for England.

• Energy Projects Plus will work across Liverpool City Region, Cheshire, and Warrington as one of the seven projects.

• Project to focus on harder-to-treat properties due to age and building type and hard-to-reach consumers such as the elderly and those with limited internet access.

• The knowledge and data gathered from each project will support the development of future energy advice initiatives.

Energy regulator, Ofgem, has today announced the Price Cap for standard variable tariffs will fall again from the 1st of October, to £1,923 per year, or £160 per month.

Year-on-year, this appears to be a welcome drop as last October the government’s Energy Price Guarantee was fixing our energy bills at £2,500 per year, or £208 per month.

However, last year, government used part of the windfall tax levied against energy producers to provide £400 to all residential electricity customers, between October and March, reducing the average monthly bill by £67.

This means, the average energy bills for October-December last year were £141 per month, compared to £160 this year. With the continuing Cost of Living Crisis causing many other household bills to surge, we would urge government to commit to further action to ensure households are able to keep warm and well this winter.

You can read Ofgem’s press release here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/energy-prices-fall-again-winter

Cadent Foundation has teamed up with NEA to offer two e-learning courses, free of charge:

• Introduction to Domestic Energy Efficiency
• Fuel Poverty and Health

The following instructions outline how to access the E-learning:

• Click on the following link which leads to NEA’s Learning Management System https://www.nea-training.co.uk/lms-2020
• Enter your username and password.
• If you are a new learner you will need to create an account, to do so please follow the instructions on screen (this will only take a few moments)
• Once in the LMS a list of available courses will appear. You have two E-learning courses available to you:

1. Cadent Foundation Fuel Poverty & Health
2. Cadent Foundation Introduction to Domestic Energy Efficiency

• Please note that there are a number of courses listed, they may have the same title but are for other services. The enrolment keys in red will only work for this specific course, these are numbered 26 & 27 on the LMS produced for Cadent Foundation
• Click the link to open the course (this is the course title highlighted in blue). You will be prompted to enter an enrolment key (please note that they are case sensitive)
• For the Fuel Poverty and Health E-learning this is: cadent?&59/gC
• For the Introduction to Domestic Energy Efficiency this is: cadent?&60/vC
• This should then take you to the first page of the course ready for you to begin
• The course home page also lists documents relevant to the course and a certificate of completion which will be available once you have successfully completed the course

PLEASE NOTE: courses are designed for use on a laptop of desktop computer and while the course will open on a tablet or mobile phone, some of the functionality of the training may not work.

SUPPORT

Tutor support is available via telephone / video call if you have any questions regarding the course content, to arrange please contact us at tutorsupport@nea.org.uk (please add the course title to the subject line so we know which course your enquiry relates to).

SUGGESTED STUDY TIME

This course will take approximately 2 hours to complete however each learner is different and E-learning offers the flexibility to study at your own pace.

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS

Should you have any special needs or learning requirements with regards to completing this E-learning please let us know as soon as possible so that the necessary arrangements can be made.

EVALUATION

Please take a few moments at the end of the course to complete the short online survey, feedback helps us improve and update the course where needed. It also helps us feedback to funders to enable us to offer this course free of charge.

If you have any problems logging in please contact Lynsey Thompson at lynsey.thompson@nea.org.uk alternatively you can contact tracy.norris@nea.org.uk

This week, Sophie from West Kirby Grammar School joined Energy Projects Plus, to complete her work experience. We packed the week with a variety of activities to give a flavour of what life in EPP entails. From attending a charity bake sale, to a drop-in event out in the community, to the nitty-gritty of stock taking, general admin, and testing the fire alarm!

But let’s let Sophie speak for herself:

“Looking back on my week at Energy Projects Plus, I can confirm I had a great time and have no regrets. Everyone here is so friendly and learning about all the different projects, everyone’s jobs and the process of helping people, whether that be with energy debts or fuel vouchers, has been quite the interesting experience! I also learnt some skills I didn’t expect to learn, like how to charge an electric car or how to deal with big tasks/projects. I also went to two events, a bake sale fundraiser, and a drop-in event, and they showed me how those types of events worked (and also kept me busy for a few hours!) Overall, I’ve really enjoyed my time at Energy Projects Plus and I’d definitely recommend them for anyone looking for a work experience place.“

Sophie (third from left) joined us for Work Experience

We were pleased to attend this conference at the end of June, held at Liverpool Hope University Creative Campus, hosted by the newly launched Poverty Research and Advocacy Network (PRAN). 

As one of our dual charitable aims is the reduction of fuel poverty across Cheshire and Merseyside, we were keen to offer our local insights, and help drive the conversation, while learning as much as we can about other work in the arena of poverty prevention/relief.

As well as attending as delegates, Katie (pictured, above) delivered an advice stall over lunch, to show other delegates the kind of stall we deliver at community events, and offer them the opportunity to take away some of our literature, and subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter. 

During the final discussion panel, Dominic (pictured right, 3rd from left) was challenged to define “what good would look like” in terms of the eradication of poverty. Dominic outlined the current definition of fuel poverty in England, which is:

1. The property has an EPC rating of E-G, and
2. The total net household income would be pushed below the poverty line, should the household heat their home to a sufficient standard.

UK government’s intention to raise as many fuel poor properties as practicable to an EPC rating of A-C by 2030 will essentially eliminate fuel poverty in England, under this current definition. However, Dominic was keen to point out that our work would continue to assist people who struggle to afford to heat their homes sufficiently. We will therefore need to increase our use of the term “Affordable Warmth” in place of “Fuel Poverty” to describe the work we do.

Dominic suggested the current definition of poverty as being households earning below 60% of the median national income means poverty will be with us forever. Even if all households can afford to thrive and do not consider themselves poor, there will always be somebody earning below 60% of the median national income. Therefore, to eradicate poverty we need to redefine it in terms of “absolute” rather than “relative” poverty, and we can only then set targets to reduce it and ultimately eradicate it.