Isra-Mart srl:E.ON exec: Council budget cuts harming sustainability efforts

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Projects to install microgeneration technologies and energy efficiency measures on social housing developments are at risk of being axed as a result of deep council budget cuts.

That is the view of Dave Gilbey, account manager for sustainable energy at E.ON, who yesterday warned that with some councils facing budget cuts of up to 40 per cent, projects designed to meet environmental targets have been disproportionately hit.

Speaking to BusinessGreen at this week's Ecobuild show, Gilbey admitted the company faced an uphill struggle to build on its recent successes undertaking a number of green social housing projects and teaming up with Stoke Council to embed sustainable management principles across the city.

"We are finding the turmoil around job losses at councils means it is difficult to get people to make decisions when they don't know what's going on," he said.

Councils and housing associations have comprised a substantial part of the increased uptake of solar panels since the feed-in tariff incentive scheme came into force in April, providing a means of significantly reducing energy bills and carbon emissions.

Social housing projects were also frequently targeted by energy efficiency funding designed to tackle fuel poverty, such as the previous government's Warm Front scheme.

But swingeing cuts to capital budgets mean that growing numbers of green social housing projects are being abandoned, mothballed or underfunded, disrupting the potential market for building and energy services companies such as E.ON.

Gilbey said that because of the cuts, many councils now lack the resources required to kick off green social housing projects by engaging with tenants to get their buy-in for microgeneration and energy efficiency schemes.

Gilbey insisted he remained confident the tight funding environment will not derail E.ON's current projects, but he expressed concerns that the cuts, along with the proposed review of feed-in tariffs, could mean local authorities miss out on the opportunity to cut costs and save carbon.

"They want to do sustainability, but the uncertainty is causing problems. And if they miss out now, it will be too late," he said.

The government has argued that its planned Green Deal loan scheme will help drive adoption of energy efficiency measures across the social housing sector.

However, the scheme was yesterday criticised by building industry representatives who argued that the plans are currently too complicated and unlikely to secure widespread business support.