New Energy Bill Announced in Queen’s Speech

Apparently householders will now be entitled to borrow money from a green investment bank to pay for carbon reducing measures. The brand new coalition government promised a raft of green initiatives in the Queen’s speech, which was read just this week. This speech showed that there will be a radical overhaul of the country’s housing stock and loans to allow people to invest in measures like solar panels.

David Cameron, who promised a new energy bill in the next parliament, said he wants to create a green investment bank that which could loan individual households money that they need to invest in carbon reducing measures. This includes things like insulation.

This plan, which actually builds on the one that had been announced by the outgoing Labour government, is called a “pay as you save” approach. The main idea here is that householders that are borrowing money to make their homes more energy efficient would repay the loan using the money that they save through their lower energy bills. The Labour party originally wanted to create a £2 billion fund, to which households hoping to access money would apply. The private sector was expected to come up with a similar amount.

The new government has not come right out and said just how this new bill will work. In the past, the Tories promised £6,500 for each home, and the Lib Dems suggested up to £10,000 could be available. These figures may have to be revised upwards as a typical electricity solar scheme costs about £15,000. Of course, these amounts would allow householders to invest in cheaper solar water heaters or a range of insulation measures.