02 March 2010 14:53
E.ON welcomes publication of Household Energy Management Strategy as vital step on journey to low carbon future

The company has already seen at first hand the importance of partnership working in delivering results, through Challenge 100, its fuel poverty project.

By working to take 100 families in 100 households out of fuel poverty in 100 days, the company is already taking practical steps to establish the best way to achieve the aim of decarbonising the UK's housing stock, as well as helping raise people out of fuel poverty.

Dr Paul Golby, Chief Executive of E.ON UK, said: "Energy efficiency is absolutely key to keeping down the cost for our customers as the country reduces its carbon emissions.

 "Our vision for the future is one where energy suppliers work with their customers to find the best possible solution for them, which could be through better insulation, greater control over their own demand for energy or modern microgeneration technologies such as ground and air source heat pumps.

"But it's also true that energy efficiency measures alone are not enough for some of our most vulnerable customers. 

 "Getting people out of fuel poverty isn't just about energy companies - only by both improving the standard of people's homes and making sure that they get all the benefits that they're entitled to can we hope to achieve that.

"The good news is that today's announcement on HEMS is an excellent contribution to this vital debate and could help facilitate those dual aims through greater engagement with the end users - our customers - and a more joined up approach, which is why we initiated Challenge 100."

Given the scale of the challenge, E.ON believes finance is a key barrier that has to be overcome.  The company welcome the Government's recognition of the need to encourage private financing to enable households to make substantial energy efficiency upgrades to their homes.

E.ON's initial findings from the Challenge 100 scheme, which has seen the company work with 12 expert partners¹ in Birmingham, Luton, Manchester, County Durham and South Staffordshire, have shown three things:

1. Working in partnership is essential as no single agency can overcome the problem by itself;
2. It's not a ‘one size fits all' solution, we need a considered and tailored approach; and
3. Engagement of householders is vital if we are to deliver decarbonisation and also help lift people out of fuel poverty.

The aim of the Challenge 100 scheme is to create a ‘one stop shop' approach to tackling fuel poverty, drawing on the expertise of partners as well as our own.

Ends

Notes to editors: 

¹ = Through Challenge 100, E.ON is working with twelve expert partners - Age Concern and Help the Aged, Citizens Advice, Money Advice Trust, National Energy Action, Energy Saving Trust, Experian, Loughborough University, Luton Borough Council, Birmingham City Council, Manchester City Council, South Staffordshire Council and County Durham Council.

For more information on Challenge 100 go to http://eon-uk.com/media/challenge100.aspx.

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies. We employ around 16,000 people in the UK and more than 90,000 worldwide;
• E.ON's retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK with around 5.5 million electricity and gas customers, covering domestic, SME and industrial. E.ON also offers central heating and boiler care;
• Our distribution business, branded Central Networks, provides a reliable supply to 9.5m people in central England through 133,000km of underground and overhead cables - enough to go round the Earth more than three times - and via almost 94,000 substations. The company covers an area from the Peak District in the north to parts of Bristol in the south, and from the Welsh Borders to the Lincolnshire Coast;
• The generation business produces enough electricity to cater for the needs of around eight million homes from a portfolio of world-class gas-, coal- and oil-fired power stations;
• We are a market leader in combined heat and power, providing our customers with around 600MW of electricity and more than 1,000MW of heat at 13 sites across the country;
• We're one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 20 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. We own and operate one of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;
• Our green development portfolio could power over a million homes and displace the emission of almost two million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by building new onshore and offshore wind farms, biomass power stations, and tidal stream and wave power schemes;
• Our target is to cut the carbon released by each kW of electricity we generate by 10% between 2005-2012, having already reduced it by 20% since 1990;
• We have installed over 350,000 cavity wall and loft installation measures since 2006, as well as energy efficient boilers and smart meters to help customers manage their energy more efficiently;
• We are investing £50 million in new technologies and approaches over 10 years, through the Energy Technologies Institute;
• We have Biodiversity Action Plans at many of our sites which align us with the UK target of significantly reducing biodiversity loss;
• E.ON Group has announced it intends to reduced the carbon intensity of its generation by 50% by 2030 (on 1990 levels);
• E.ON Group aims to spend €8bn between 2007 and 2011 on renewable generation and climate protection activities.

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