Brown seeks help to improve energy efficiency

PM Gordon Brown is trying to convince the country’s big retail companies and media firms to support its initiative of helping consumers in cutting down their energy bills.

Mr. Brown’s bid to enlist some of private industry’s biggest name is part of government’s efforts to give a boost to its £1bn energy package. However, most people, including some Labour MPs are calling the £1bn as a grossly inadequate amount.

The Prime Minister is likely to launch his plan on coming Wednesday which includes a contribution of about £300m per year by energy companies. But government officials are also talking to private companies to get involved in its “Together” campaign. The names include BSkyB, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and B&Q. They have agreed to selling lower energy products and home insulation to their customers to help cutting down of carbon emissions.

Earlier in the week, Gordon Brown admitted to have given up on his earlier plan of forcing the big energy companies to cough up £1bn of cash rebate to help poor families. The government is now planning tie up its energy efficiency programme to Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), which became effective in April this year. CERT makes it binding on energy companies to spend £3bn towards energy efficiency measures like home insulation and supplying low energy consuming light bulbs. CERT is going to remain effective till 2011.

With government’s energy efficiency programme getting merged into CERT, the figure of £3bn is likely rise by £900m or about 30%. But Mr. Brown is likely to have hard time convincing trade unionists and some of his Labour MPs is doing enough to alleviate the energy crisis.