The Association of Decentralised Energy (ADE) said the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had a “much better” understanding of energy users and their investment needs than the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc).
Speaking at the launch of a new report on demand side response, director Tim Rotheray said there is a “massive opportunity for government to deliver particularly on industrial efficiency and just hasn’t done it.”
He added: “If I’m really frank, my last conversation with Decc they said they weren’t going to do anything about it.
However the department for business has a much better grasp on what is needed to support investment that results in electrical efficiency savings.
Rotheray said: “Someone who is going to invest in a new nuclear power station is not going to invest in LED lighting and the return from LED lighting will need to be different.
“I think the business department understood that and Decc has generally had a thing of treating all energy investment all the same.
“Hopefully by bringing the two bits together you bring the expertise together to actually change it.”