“We cannot allow this mad denial of energy efficiency to become permanent government policy”

The latest UK government proposals focus on the production of clean energy, but why is there no mention of what more can be done to reduce the amount of enregy we actually use? asks Andrew Warren, chairman of the British Energy Efficiency Federation, in November/December issue of Energy in Buildings & Industry. Is this situation similar in your country?

No plans to reduce our energy consumption

The October Budget’s opening statement  was unequiovocal.  “Growth is the number one mission of this government. Our new industrial strategy is central to that growth mission.”

To achieve this, a formal policy  document has been issued entitled” Invest 2035”. This seeks to establish the UK’s modern industrial strategy to “drive long-term economic growth”. But in practice it is entirely ignoring one of the best options around to improve productivity.

Inevitably a large proportion of the document is given over to a business oriented energy policy.  Bizarrely, nowhere in this wordy 66 page document is there any reference to  improving  ‘energy efficiency, ‘  let alone “energy conservation”. There is no mention at all of the wisdom of making a more rational use of energy. Nothing at all about cutting out unnecessary consumption. Or even of minimising waste.

Fixated on generation

I suspect many readers will be raising serious eyebrows  as to why on earth energy saving has been so deprioritised.  If so, I have made a suggestion at the end of this column. This latest strategy from Government is fixated on the production and generation of more energy, entirely ignoring the issue of how well, or how badly that energy is used

Right at the start, the government document states: “The only (sic ) way to guarantee our energy security and protect billpayers is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy.”

In other words, the new government seems exclusively to be concerned about how energy is supplied to business, and also about assisting those  companies that profit from selling more and more energy to us. There seems absolutely no recognition of the many benefits that occur when energy consumption is managed well.

The absurdity is that this consultation exercise is being managed by the Business Department in Whitehall.  Precisely the civil servants who are supposed to have as their job description identifying how to help companies become more, rather than, less competitive. With the key slogan being ”Invest, Invest,  Invest.”

If these purblind pen pushers are to be believed, there is no need for any discussion or debate about how any industries might be stimulated to use energy more efficiently, in order to help manage their own costs better.

There is no consideration of how effective energy management will be key to reducing costs under the (acknowledged) more volatile energy system anticipated during decarbonisation. Strange, because, for years, Ministers from all Parties have consistently argued that managing energy consumption more effectively can benefit the bottom line, making each company grow far more economically productive.

Investing to save

This magazine continues to be full of case histories, detailing how individual companies have improved their financial productivity, by judicious investment in energy saving equipment and materials. As one memorable government publication from the Business department during the Brown government sloganised,  energy efficiency is all about companies “Investing to Save”.

The over-riding message to British business of this latest so-called industrial strategy for 2035 is that it no longer sees any role for government in helping any company  to use energy other than as profligately as their customers, let alone their shareholders, will tolerate.

This missed opportunity is in total contrast to the policies adopted by every previous government over the past 50 years.

Previous governments of all persuasions have deliberately prioritised seeking to help companies improve their energy efficiency. Throughout the Thatcher, Major, Blair  and Brown years, teams of skilled professionals were retained in each part of Britain as RECOs (regional energy conservation officers). Their role was entirely devoted to providing advice and guidance to companies, large and small. on how to manage their energy usage more effectively.

Subsequent governments may have centralised the arrangements, but such facilities long retained a key part of the acknowledged role of local, as well as regional, government. Consequently we have enjoyed major improvement in our industrial energy efficiency. Over the past 50 years, our GDP has increased almost three fold. But the amount of fuel burned is now no more than it was in the early 1970s.

Have your say

Set aside government’s role in improving each individual company’s energy efficiency. Strategically, it is surely in everybody’s interest to ensure that profligate on-site energy usage is minimised. This is simply so that we do need as a nation to pay for greater energy infrastructure  costs than necessary in conveying both gas and electricity ( even non fossil fuel electricity!) to business consumers.

Apparently current staff at the Business Department have somehow  forgotten just how much National Grid’s forward scenarios for that infrastructure have assumed that British businesses will become seriously more energy efficient over this next decade. As we stand, henceforth government is set to ignore entirely  promoting the demand side of the economy to drive long-term economic growth.

The Government is  still saying “We want to hear your views on our proposals.” Its’ final industrial strategy will be published in spring 2025, alongside the multi-year spending review. So I would encourage every reader of Energy in Buildings & Industry to consider sending in a short and pithy response, particularly to Question 16 “ What are the remaining  barriers to competitive industrial activity?” before midnight on November 24.

We cannot allow this mad denial of energy efficiency to become permanent government policy.