The Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation

This consultation seeks your views on the details of the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) policies that are to be implemented in secondary legislation and under the energy licensing framework. We would like to hear from as wide a range of stakeholders as we can including, in particular, those organisations with an interest in operating within the framework and members of the general public including those who might be considering investing in energy efficiency.

The Energy Act 2011 made provisions for the development of a Green Deal and a new ECO to replace the existing Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP), which will both expire in 2012.

Green Deal is a market led framework that will allow individuals and businesses to make energy efficiency improvements to their buildings at no upfront cost. Central to the Green Deal is a finance mechanism that will allow access to the finance needed for the improvements with repayment, in instalments, attached to the electricity bill.

Underpinning the delivery of the Green Deal is the ECO. ECO will place one or more obligations on energy companies requiring them to generate a specific amount of credit by facilitating the installation of energy efficiency measures in homes in Great Britain before a set deadline. ECO has been designed to fit within the Green Deal framework and provide support, in the domestic sector, where Green Deal finance alone is not enough.

Consultation documents

Consultation response

Below is the government response to the Green Deal and ECO consultation. We would like to thank all respondents who submitted a formal response or participated through the various activities held during the consultation period.

The government response sets out the key issues that came out of the consultation process and describes the major amendments we have made as a result. It also includes a summary of responses to each question asked during the consultation and our corresponding response

The Green Deal and ECO policy will be brought into effect through legislation that we are laying in parliament this month. They will be available on the legislation.gov.uk website (previously OPSI website).

• The Government response

Alongside the government response, we have also published:

• Final Stage Impact Assessment for the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation
• Draft Green Deal Code of Practice

The draft Green Deal Code of Practice is subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. It was laid before Parliament pursuant to section 39 of the Energy Act 2011 (“the Act”) on 28 June. Pursuant to section 39(3), (5) and (6) of the Act it must lie in Parliament for forty days, and during this forty day period either House of Parliament may resolve that the Code of Practice not be approved. If no such resolution is made, the Secretary of State intends to issue the Code at the end of the 40 day period, pursuant to section 39(5) of the Act. It will apply to Green Deal Providers, Green Deal Assessors, Green Deal Installers and Certification Bodies.

• Draft Green Deal Code of Practice Explanatory Memorandum
• Modifications to Electricity Supply Licence Conditions
• Modifications to Gas Supply Licence Conditions

Under the provisions of the Energy Act 2011, the collection and remittance mechanism of the Green Deal is implemented by amendments to the standard conditions of supply licences under section 6(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 1989, the standard conditions of supply licences under section 7A(1) of the Gas Act 1986, and the standard conditions of distribution licences under section 6(1)(c) of the Electricity Act 1989.

• Consolidated modifications to the electricity distribution licence conditions

Progress on Setting up the Green Deal Framework sets out the elements of the framework that are already in place and specifies those that will follow over the coming months.

There is also additional guidance and related additional customer insight documents on both domestic and business Green Deal consumers. This research will continue to inform the development and implementation of the Green Deal. The Green Deal language research may assist Green Deal providers as they develop their customer offers.

• Green Deal business survey: main report - findings from the Green Deal Business Survey
• Business survey technical report - containing the technical description of how the Green Deal Business Survey was conducted
• Annex A: Business survey data tables - data collected in the Green Deal Business Survey
• Green Deal language research report - findings from research with householders on explaining the Green Deal

We have also published Green Deal modifications to the standard conditions of electricity distribution licenses (No1 of 2012) and Green Deal Modifications to the standard conditions of electricity distribution licenses (No2 of 2012).

Draft documents or related additional documents published alongside the Green Deal and ECO consultation Green Deal language appendices

The appendix contains more detail on how the Green Deal language study was conducted including the sample recruited, stimulus used and discussion guides.

• Appendices 1- 5
• Appendix 6
• Appendix 7
• Appendices 8 - 9

Draft Impact Assessment

• Draft Impact Assessment

Draft Statutory Instruments

• The Green Deal (Specified Energy Efficiency Improvements and Qualifying Energy Improvements) Order
• The Green Deal Framework (etc) Regulations
• The Green Deal (Disclosure) Regulations
• The Green Deal (Form of Acknowledgement) Regulations
• The Green Deal (Form of Acknowledgment) (Scotland) Regulations
• The Consumer Credit (Green Deal) Regulations
• The Electricity and Gas (Energy Companies Obligation) Order

Draft Green Deal Code of Practice

• Draft DECC Green Deal code of practice

Draft amendments to energy company licences and industry agreements, and the draft Green Deal Arrangements Agreement

• Proposed modifications to Electricity Supply Licence Conditions
• Proposed new Gas Supply Standard Licence Condition 19B
• Proposed modifications to Distribution Standard Licence Conditions
• Proposed modifications to the Master Registration Agreement (MRA)
• Proposed modifications to the Distribution Connection and Use of System Agreement (DCUSA)
• Draft Green Deal Arrangements Agreement

Related additional documents

In order to support stakeholders in developing responses to the consultation we produced a number of additional documents, which sought to expand upon or clarify some of the issues under discussion.

Customer Insight

• Research summary: understanding potential consumer response to the Green Deal
• Green Deal consumer research: findings from a consumer survey on the potential response to the Green Deal
• Annex A: topline findings
• Annex B: data tables
• Green Deal consumer research: understanding consumer needs and wants
• Green Deal consumer research: potential response to the Green Deal by the private rented sector

Non-domestic Green Deal

The following documents show the work that DECC undertook, with the assistance of Carbon Trust and AEA, to examine how the Green Deal might be applied to a number of different premises within different sectors of the economy. The findings based on this modelling inform the likely payback expected when different measures and costs of finance are applied to different sectors within the economy. This insight has been used to inform the expected levels of take-up of the Green Deal in the Impact Assessment.

• Analysis of Green Deal measures: payback in the non-domestic sector using hypothetical examples in different sectors
• Analysis of Green Deal measures: payback in the non-domestic sector using hypothetical examples in different sectors - spreadsheet analysis

Green Deal modelling

• Green Deal Household Model Assumptions document

Local authorities and the Green Deal

• Local authorities and the Green Deal: information note

Call for evidence on the cost and benefits of energy efficiency measures

The call for Evidence on the costs and benefits of energy efficiency measures conducted by the Energy Efficiency Partnerships for Homes on behalf of DECC closed in Spring 2011. The purpose of this was to identify gaps in the evidence base and approximately 300 responses were received. The information has been analysed and a summary of how the information was used will be published shortly.

Alternative versions of the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation consultation document Large print

• Large print version: Volume 1 - Cover Page - Chapter 5
• Large print version: Volume 2 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 12 plus glossary

Braille

• Braille version (the files will need to be extracted from this Zip file)

To download the files from the website you will need to have the Duxbury programme to open the file or an embosser to send the file to print to using the method in which you would normally print braille files (this will vary depending on the type of embosser you have ). The digital ascii braille files are compatible with Duxbury and can be opened using the following instructions:

1. Right click on file attachment
2. Select ‘open with’
3. Select ‘Duxbury’ from the list of programmes
4. File opens with Duxbury
5. Print if required

Contents

• Volume 1: General Information - Executive Summary point 35 (approximately 70 pages)
• Volume 2: Executive Summary point 36 - Chapter 2, Section 2.1 Introduction paragraph 6 (approximately 76 pages)
• Volume 3: Chapter 2, section 2.2 Green Deal Measures paragraph 7 - Chapter 3, section 3.3, The Green Deal Plan paragraph 44 (approximately 79 pages)
• Volume 4: Chapter 3, section 3.4, Consumer Credit Act and the Green Deal Plan paragraph 45 - Chapter 5, section 5.2, Eligibility for support under ECO paragraph 31 (approximately 71 pages))
• Volume 5: Chapter 5, section 5.3 Delivering Equity Under the Energy Company Obligation paragraph 32 - Chapter 6, section 6.5, Circumstances requiring early repayment of Green Deal Plans (approximately 57 pages)
• Volume 6: Chapter 7, Installation - Chapter 9, Devolution and ECO (approximately 75 pages)
• Volume 7: Chapter 10, Consumer protection - Chapter 12 Administration and enforcement of ECO (approximately 72 pages)
• Volume 8: Glossary (40 pages)

Hard copies

Hard copies of the Audio and Braille versions of the consultation document are available on request. Please contact us to request a copy.

Message from Greg Barker, Minister of State

Greg Barker introduces the Green Deal consultation 23 November 2011