NEA’s response to the BEIS Call for Evidence on the future of the energy market on a green gas levy.

NEA broadly agrees with plans to phase out fossil heating, but BEIS must ensure that homes off the gas grid receive adequate support to decarbonise, including through funding hybrid heating technologies; ensure that there is sufficient awareness and advice around any move to transition away from fossil fuels in off gas homes.

NEA’s response to the BEIS Consultation on hydrogen heating trials. NEA welcomes the plans to deliver a hydrogen village trial by 2025. In this response, NEA sets out the key issues that will need to be considered to ensure fuel poor and vulnerable households can benefit from the trial and are adequately protected from any potentially negative outcomes.

NEA welcomes the extension and expansion of the ECO scheme until at least April 2026 and fully supports the consultation’s continued, critical focus on low-income and vulnerable households and greater support for deeper retrofits for the least energy efficient homes.

NEA’s Response to the BEIS Consultation on Improving home energy performance through lenders. While NEA agrees with the need to move towards Green Mortgages, there are significant risks to fuel poor households that need to be fully understood. These can be mitigated by a generous exemption mechanism.

NEA supports the smart meter rollout, and broadly the mechanism for attributing targets to suppliers for the next phase. However NEA believes this could be improved through the addition of targets specifically to upgrade legacy prepayment meters, as well as introducing broader incentives to accelerate the upgrade of legacy prepayment meters.

In response to the NAO’s report7 in 2018 on smart meters we highlighted our concern that the smart meter roll-out was significantly back-loaded.

NEA believes dramatically improving domestic energy efficiency levels remains the most enduring solution to addressing energy affordability, however, we also know other key actions are required in retail energy markets to safeguard vulnerable domestic customers, particularly those living on the lowest incomes.

Given the stated aim to target low income, fuel poor and vulnerable households; NEA believes it is paramount that beneficiaries of the scheme receive adequate consumer protections.