The Department of Energy and Climate Change is to engage with the industry before finishing reforms to energy efficiency subsidies.
Energy secretary Amber Rudd made the announcement during an oral questions session in parliament this morning, while also confirming that the government’s roll-out of smart meters remained “on track”.
Sweeping reforms to energy efficiency policies such as the renewable heat incentive, the green deal and the energy companies obligation have been enacted in recent months, resulting in concern that a gap could be created in government policy.
This was compounded last month when energy and climate change minister Lord Bourne appeared to announce policy decisions during a select committee hearing instead of through official channels.
However this morning Rudd confirmed that the department would be meeting with industry representatives to discuss proposed reforms to efficiency policy prior to their publication in order to ensure they “deliver better value for money”.
Rudd also discussed progress under the smart meter rollout scheme after Labour MP Matthew Pennycook suggested that the data reporting element of the scheme was as much as nine months delayed.
The energy secretary dismissed any notion that the roll-out programme had fallen behind and insisted that some energy providers were “ahead of schedule” in delivering smart meters to home owners and business customers.
