LEAP Boiler Scheme back open!

The LEAP Boiler Scheme runs each year from September through to the end of March, unless funds are exhausted earlier. But we’re delighted to confirm this scheme has reopened. It will close again to referrals on Wednesday 31st May, or until funds are exhausted.

The scheme is available to qualifying residents that have received a LEAP (Local Energy Advice Partnership) home visit, which are delivered across Merseyside and Cheshire by Energy Projects Plus. Eligible residents are vulnerable homeowners on a low income, and/or in receipt of means-tested benefits. The scheme will cover the repair or replacement of mains gas central heating boilers, which are broken or faulty at the time of a visit conducted by a Gas Safe Registered heating engineer.

Referrals for the LEAP Boiler Scheme can be made on our ‘general referral form’ available here: www.epplus.org.uk/referrals

Save Energy Advice Line: 0800 043 0151

Thanks to additional recruitment, and continuing improvement in the weather, we’re pleased to report a general reduction in the average waiting time for residents accessing our services. We are still prioritising enquiries relating to vulnerable residents either without heat, or at risk of self-disconnection, or living in homes with damp and mould. All other clients will be supported on a first-come, first-served basis.

In addition to our telephone advice, we’re able to deliver home visits across Merseyside and Cheshire, where we offer advice, practical demonstrations (e.g. how to set your home’s central heating controls), and assess eligibility for other help such as white goods, fuel top-up support, and access to further grants that may be available. Thanks to the government’s “Home Upgrade Grant”, “Boiler Upgrade Scheme”, “Energy Company Obligation” and the “Great British Insulation Scheme”, this can include free insulation, low carbon heating and even solar panels.

CLICK HERE to refer a client for a home visit

FREE Wirral Lifelong Learning Courses by Energy Projects Plus

Do you know a Wirral community or group of residents who want to save money on their energy bills?

Energy Projects Plus can help! We have funding to offer Lifelong Learning Workshops for Wirral residents. The aim of these courses is to save learners money and help them address any issues or answer any questions they may have about home energy.

Our qualified tutor will come to your venue with all the materials needed to train your community.

Here is an outline of our most popular course:

“Taking Control of your Energy Bills”

2-Hour Workshop

Learning Outcomes:
•Understanding the energy crisis, energy tariffs and payment methods
•Identify recommendations and money saving opportunities on your home’s Energy Performance Certificate
•Understanding your Energy Bill, is a smart meter right for you?
•List the “Top Tips” for reducing household energy bills, which could save learners up to £581 a year!

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

**NEW** “Saving Money On Energy” 1-Hour Workshop!!

Just an hour to spare? If so, we can cut right to the chase and focus on the list of “Top Tips” to save energy!

Let our tutor and trained energy advisor can go through the home, room by room, to give energy saving tips and advice to bring down energy costs by up to £581 a year!

Learning Outcomes:
•Top tips so save money on home energy

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

These courses are free for Wirral residents, funded by Wirral Lifelong Learning. Courses are available to book Mondays or Tuesdays through June 2023.

With energy bills at an all time high, it is important to understand what we can do to reduce our energy use. We can’t do much these days about the price per kilowatt hour (kWh), but what we can do is learn how to be more savvy!

If you have a venue and a group of 5 or more residents interested in saving money on their energy bills, we would like to offer you a course.

Funding and availability is limited.

For more information on offering a Lifelong Learning Energy Course to your community email melanie.nolan@epplus.org

Melanie

EPPlus Do Events!

Do you have an event coming up? Energy Projects Plus are delighted to be able to serve our community by attending events like coffee mornings, drop in events, fun days, information sessions, environmental awareness events, conferences, open days, or any other event you may think of!

We can set up a stall giving advice, deliver a presentation, hold a 1-2 hour workshop. We can bring a long some free lightbulbs or even showcase our electric company car!

We offer advice on subjects such as: • fuel poverty • energy crisis • climate action • energy efficiency • renewable energy • saving water • damp and mould • help with energy bills • affordable warmth • smart meter advice • home energy and EPC’s

If you have an event coming up and would like Energy Project Plus to attend you can email all the details including date, time and type of event to events@epplus.org

Wirral Digital Inclusion

The TechKnow project is designed to empower Wirral residents to ‘do digital’ their own way, safely. Energy Projects Plus is ready to help our community make sense of technology and resources related to saving energy, saving water, and reducing their carbon footprint.

Energy Projects Plus has put together series of ‘Digital Drop-In Events’ to help give residents the support they need to make their digital life that little bit easier.

These events are running until the end of the month:

Monday 10:00am – 11:00am @ Open Door Charity, Bloom Building, 3 Abbey Close, Birkenhead, CH41 5FQ

Tuesday 2:00pm – 3:00pm @ The Community Village, New Chester Road, Rock Ferry, Wirral, CH42 1LE

To help us promote these events to those offline, please download and print out our poster: EPPlus TechKnow Poster Jan-Mar 2023

We are seeking new Wirral venues to hold Digital inclusion events. To enquire email melanie.nolan@epplus.org

Damp and Mould

In light of the tragic death of Awaab Ishak in Rochdale, which the coroner has linked with the presence of mould in the property, Energy Projects Plus is keen to work with partners to try to prevent a similar case from happening within Merseyside and Cheshire. To aid this, we have added “damp/mould” to the list of items on our General Referral form, here: www.epplus.org.uk/referrals so you can refer clients to us for help with damp/mould, even if they don’t need any further advice or support from us.

We have also decided these cases should be prioritised, and therefore we now have 3 priority groups:

•Vulnerable residents with no access to heat
•Low-income prepay customers at risk of self-disconnection
•Vulnerable residents living in homes with damp/mould

Wherever possible we will attempt initial contact with clients in any of these priority groups within a working day following receipt of referral. Referrals for clients not in any of these groups will be processed in date order, but there is likely to be a wait of several weeks before we’ll be able to speak with them.

What we can do

•We have advice on the topic of damp and mould, that anybody can access and share, here: www.epplus.org.uk/advice
•All of our energy advisors are trained and qualified to detect and identify the most common forms of damp, suggest possible causes, and provide recommendations.
•We can deliver advice and recommendations over the phone, or during a home visit. Please note, residents don’t need to keep mould to show us, they can take a photo to share with us, but should always wipe mould away quickly – preferably utilising a mould cleaner.
•We can create an “observation report” following a home visit, providing the resident with a written record of what we saw on the day. This can be shared by the resident with their landlord, where appropriate.

What we can’t do

•We do not have funding available to repair roofs, to fix leaky plumbing, or to repair external drainpipes. Referrals to us in these cases wouldn’t be appropriate as the resident is likely to know the cause of the damp, and we can’t assist with the solution.
•If a landlord is already involved in dealing with a damp/mould issue, there’s no need to refer the case to us as we’re likely to come to the same conclusions as the landlord.

Money Saving Expert Energy Announcement

As Martin Lewis advises here, bills may still be less affordable from April for a few months, as the £67 monthly reduction will cease.

But the current prediction is a 20% drop in July.

—

April as planned. We just wanted to give you a quick update on the energy market. The good news is the Government has confirmed it won’t be hiking bills by 20% from

MoneySavingExpert and Martin wrote to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt asking him to postpone the rise, which would have taken a typical bill on the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) – the state-subsidised rate almost everyone is paying right now – up to £3,000/year.

Our letter was backed by more than 110 charities and in today’s Budget the Chancellor confirmed the typical bill for someone paying by direct debit under the EPG would now stay at £2,500/year until July.

However, there will still be a rise for everyone in April as the Government’s £66/£67 a month energy support is ending. And what you actually pay will depend on your usage, where you live and your payment method.

To see the impact on your bills, check out our updated ‘What will I pay from April?’ calculator.

Bills are expected to drop in July

Energy bills are currently set by a combination of the Ofgem Price Cap and the EPG. The Price Cap is based on wholesale prices and sets a limit on what firms can charge for each unit of gas and electricity, with the Government discounting these rates if the Cap is above the EPG level of £2,500/year.

With wholesale prices falling rapidly, analysts at Cornwall Insight are predicting the Price Cap will be around £2,000/year for a typical household from July, so the EPG will no longer apply, and we can expect to see lower bills.

See Martin’s video explainer for what’s going to happen to bills in the next few months.

We are also hearing murmurings that fixed energy deals could be coming back in the near future, so we will be in touch then with an update and what you need to know.

The MSE Cheap Energy Club team

CASE STUDY
by Katie

“When myself and a colleague were attending an event in Liscard Cherry Tree Centre, a gentleman approached our table with quite a pessimistic demeaner. He said he felt isolated and abandoned by the governments assistance for households during COVID due to not being in receipt of benefits. The gentleman said he felt like he was drowning with the cost of living and couldn’t find help anywhere. I explained to him about the Wirral Council Direct Debit support fund and that the criteria didn’t stipulate that the claimant needed to be in receipt of benefits. Since the event the gentleman has sent me the relevant information and an application has been submitted to Wirral council for 6 months Direct Debit support that will offer the gentleman a total of £1100 if approved. The client was extremely grateful for any help at all as he had reached out to organisations previously and been turned away.”

Do you want to be at the heart of the drive to tackle fuel poverty and climate change?

These vacancies are currently available at Energy Projects Plus:

Energy Projects Plus were delighted to be invited to appear on ITV Granada Reports in a piece about the energy price cap increase and its impact on the cost of living.

An ITV News presenter and cameraman accompanied Ellie and Linda on a home energy visit to see first-hand how the advice we provide can help support people through the current challenges.

The piece appeared on the 6pm News on 1^st April – dubbed April Cruel Day by the media due to the 54% price cap increase coming into effect.

Watch again here:

https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2022-04-01/how-lives-have-been-changed-in-the-north-west-by-energys-april-cruel-day

Energy Projects Plus CEO, Peter Owen reflects on 2021 in this end of year message to our valued funders, referrers, patrons and partners. 

[VIDEO MESSAGE]

2021 has been another challenging year with the Covid-19 pandemic fundamentally changing how we and our partners operate our services. It has also led to ever increasing demand for our services.

Our teams have worked tirelessly throughout the year to support as many people as possible and will be taking a well-earned break over the Christmas and New Year period.

Our work has focussed on two areas: the climate emergency and fuel poverty. There is a clear connection between the two in that improving energy efficiency directly reduces fuel use thus lowering carbon emissions and fuel bills.

Over the year we have provided advice and other support to over 6,000 households.

We helped over 1,100 people apply for their £140 Warm Home Discount payment – an important support for vulnerable people to afford winter fuel bills.

We have directly issued 1,400 emergency fuel vouchers to people facing the direct risk of their lights and heating going off.

We made nearly 400 home visits to vulnerable residents to assist with issues ranging from broken heating systems or appliances, not knowing how to use or adequately control their heating system, understanding fuel bills or switching supplier, installing easy measures such as LED lightbulbs or radiator panels, and also to deliver emergency heaters to homes where no heat is present.

With our partners we have also trained 200 people in Carbon Literacy so that they have a greater understanding of what their impact on the environment is, and also how they can personally start to make changes for the better.

2022 will become even more difficult for those people struggling to afford their fuel bills as the cost of fuel is expected to rise overnight in April by over £40 per month. For those of us fortunate to be able to accommodate such an increase we must recognise that this will be unaffordable for many many people who will have two simple choices- switch off or face debt.

The excitement of COP26 in November ran parallel to the huge concerns raised by the serious rise in gas prices that now fills many people with dread for the new year.

This is where there is a direct crossover between fuel poverty and the climate emergency. The solution to both is to reduce our energy needs and demands, and thus our costs, through effective energy efficiency programmes underpinned by a comprehensive and credible advice and support service.

However, in the drive for a just transition there is no point in simply adding the huge cost of decarbonising homes onto all fuel bills as it will be the fuel poor who bear a disproportionate cost and may ultimately not escape the daily pressure of keeping warm and well at an affordable price.

As our charity reflects on our impact during 2021 we express our thanks to all our funders for their invaluable support, financial and other, as well as our partners in delivery and those 400 plus active referrers who are all committed to the same goals as our charity.

Our charity’s focus for 2022 is to build on our previous 25 years of action and increase our work around the interconnected issues of the climate emergency and fuel poverty. We see that deeper support to households across both themes will help achieve the lasting changes we need, and we look forward to working with partners, old and new, to make this aspiration a reality.

Energy Project Plus’ LEAP team are back providing a mix of full home energy visits, telephone advice calls and short follow up visits across Merseyside and Cheshire.

The usual support is available including free energy saving measures, support with switching energy tariff, advice on saving energy at home, warm home discount applications, priority service registration, benefits maximisation and more.

To be eligible for LEAP, residents need to be low income, have a health condition made worse by cold or another vulnerability. We can support owner occupiers, private renters and social housing tenants.

In addition, the following LEAP schemes have re-opened:

ECHO

Providing fully funded gas boiler repair or replacements.

To be eligible, the resident must be an owner occupier, in receipt of benefits, or eligible under their Local Authority Statement of Intent for Eco Flex.

The boiler must be fully broken, with the resident in, or intermittently in a no heat situation.

HEART

Providing fully funded replacement white goods – electric cookers, washing machine, fridges, freezers and fridge freezers.

To be eligible, the resident needs to be in receipt of benefits, or on a low income.

They can be owner occupiers, privately renting or social housing tenants, as long as they own the appliance and are responsible for paying their own energy bills.

There must be an existing appliance to replace and this needs to be at least 9 years old. It doesn’t need to be broken.

Please refer to the above schemes using our usual referral form

Ellie Abernethy has been named Energy Efficiency Champion of the Year at the North West Energy Efficiency Awards.

The award recognises one exceptional individual that has shown a true commitment to promoting energy efficiency within their region. It recognises the efforts of that individual and seeks to thank them for their service to their local community.

Ellie has been Project Manager at Energy Projects Plus for more than 12 years, and has delivered some of EPP’s largest projects including the Merseyside Collective Switch, LEAP, Warm & Healthy Homes and Warmth for Health.

She was nominated for the award by AgilityEco and Lorraine Gumbs, Programme Development Manager, said:

“The AgilityEco team was thoroughly delighted to nominate Ellie for this award. We are gratified that the judging panel has recognised her stellar efforts to improve the energy efficiency of homes in Merseyside and Cheshire, and in turn, improve the health and wellbeing of local people. She has, without a doubt, contributed to life-changing outcomes for some of the households she has referred to the LEAP (Local Energy Advice Partnership) programme. Congratulations to Ellie on a well-deserved win!”

The award ceremony was held at the Last Drop Village in Bolton at the start of September, having been postponed from March 2020.

The win follows Ellie achieving Highly Commended in the same category at the 2019 regional awards, and receiving a Special Commendation at the 2019 National Awards.

Ofgem have announced an increase to the energy price cap of £139 from 1 October.

Around 15 million households are currently covered by the price cap, which will see their typical bill increase from £1,138 to £1,277. Prepayment customers will see a larger increase of £153.

The increase is due to a 50% rise in wholesale energy costs over the last six months, with gas prices at a record high.  

If you are on your supplier’s standard variable tariff, or if your fixed tariff is coming to an end and you haven’t switched, you can expect your bills to be affected.

The good news is, the Merseyside Collective Switch is here to help.

Set up in 2013, the Merseyside Collective Switch is one of the longest running local authority Collective Switches in the country. Delivered by local charity Energy Projects Plus, in partnership with the six local authorities in the Liverpool City Region, it has so far, helped local people save over £1.5 million on their energy bills. 

Collective switching works by using the power of the group to negotiate cheaper energy tariffs from suppliers. The Merseyside Collective Switch winning tariffs have often been the cheapest on the market and are available exclusively to its members. Anyone can join, it’s completely free and there is no obligation to switch if you don’t want to.

Previous winning deals have included Big 6 suppliers such as British Gas, E.on, SSE and EDF Energy as well as Ovo and Green Energy.

The Merseyside Collective Switch also includes a full market comparison, so if the winning deals aren’t right for you, you can find one that is.

As exclusive offers are only available to members, you will need to register by 8 September to be eligible. Once you’ve registered, you will be able to access exclusive offers time and time again, and can make sure you’re not missing out on a great deal on your energy.

Registration is completely free and your data will only be used to provide you with information about the winning energy tariffs.

Plus, by switching with the Merseyside Collective Switch, you will be helping to support local charity, Energy Projects Plus, who provide vital support to local people who are living in fuel poverty.

Switching your energy tariff with the Merseyside Collective Switch is both quick and easy, and it could prevent you from overpaying hundreds of pounds a year.

The next set of winning offers will be available from 9 September, providing time for you to compare and fix your energy tariff ahead of the price rises.

Peter Owen, CEO at Energy Projects Plus said “We are proud to have been offering this free switching service, which is specifically designed to benefit people across the Liverpool City Region, for eight years now. The Merseyside Collective Switch is here to support everyone through the switching process to make sure you’re not paying more than you need to. With the price cap increase looming, and more energy price hikes on their way, it’s now more important than ever to make sure you’re not paying more than you should be for your gas and electricity”.  

Registration for this round closes on 8 September.  

Members will then be contacted with the deals that have been negotiated for the group.

To join the Collective Switch visit www.lcrenergyswitch.co.uk

or call the local Save Energy Advice Line on freephone 0800 043 0151, where you can also get other free and impartial support to help reduce your energy bills.

The Warm Home Discount is a government-backed scheme that means energy suppliers with 200,000 or more customers must provide one-off credits of £140 to vulnerable customers.

Most energy suppliers open their Warm Home Discount schemes in September, but Utilita opens theirs for just one week in August.

To be eligible, you must have an electricity account with Utilita, and be in either the “Core Group” or “Broader Group”.

If you are in the Broader Group, you must apply for the £140 credit, or you will miss out.

Utilita applications open Wednesday, 11 August 2021 and close on Wednesday, 18 August 2021.

All Broader Group applicants will be told whether their application was successful by the end of October 2021. Payments are made between then and 31 March 2022.

If you switch from Utilita to a new supplier before you receive the Warm Home Discount you may not receive your payment.

Miss Williams is a local Utilita customer. She said; “I’m a single working mum of four. Having young children means I can’t turn off lights or the heating as a way to save on bills. The Warm Home Discount is a real help and reduces my winter energy bill significantly. Even more welcome so soon after Christmas.”

Apply via the “My Utlita” app, visit www.utilita.co.uk or call Utilita on 0345 207 2000.

For more free, expert advice on how to spend less on your energy bills visit www.epplus.org.uk

Wirral residents living in areas where homes are older and less energy efficient can access help to lower their bills whilst keeping their homes warm and being more environmentally friendly as a new grant scheme is launched.

The scheme will allow those eligible to access up to £10,000 worth of home improvement works for either insulation or installing solar power.

Installing either insulation or solar panels for electricity or heating water will not only make a home more environmentally friendly by reducing the CO₂ emissions, and therefore the carbon footprint of the home, but will help to lower bills by reducing the amount of energy required for heating.

Eligibility for the scheme depends on area, the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of a property and household income.

Residents, or private landlords on behalf of their tenants, can apply for the funding and check eligibility by visiting the council’s website and filling out a short form. Any landlord should have their tenant’s permission before making an application on their behalf.

Check eligibility and apply for funding by visiting www.wirral.gov.uk/greengrants

Alternatively, those interested in applying for the scheme, can call Energy Projects Plus (EPP), who are supporting the council with this scheme, on 0800 043 0151 or email advice@epplus.org

Applications will be open until Thursday 30 September 2021.

Homeowners or landlords eligible for this scheme will be provided with an in-depth survey to help decide which home improvements are the most suitable for their property. Work carried out can include solid wall or cavity wall insulation, insulation for lofts (including top-ups), suspended timber floors or rooms-in-roofs, upgrading single glazing to double glazing, solar power water heating or solar electricity panels. Any works will be arranged by a company working with the council and carried out by a certified tradesperson.

All funding provided by Green Home Grants Local Authority Delivery must be spent by Friday 31 December 2021.

The scheme follows the previous government voucher scheme to help people across the UK make home improvements for less. Certain areas of the borough are eligible for the grant based on criteria set by national government.

For more information about energy efficient home improvements, take a look around the EPP website www.epplus.org.uk