Energy secretary Ed Davey has given the strongest signal yet that the revamped draft Energy Bill will not contain proposals for demand-side management (DSM) measures.
Davey said he may “tweak” existing energy efficiency initiatives instead of changing the Bill, but MPs, environmental groups and energy companies have urged him to write specific DSM measures into it.
Speaking at a series of fringe meetings at the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton, Davey said he was “passionate” about energy efficiency and that a team of officials was looking at options. But, he said, the team’s conclusions would not be ready by the time the rewritten Bill received its second reading in the Commons. He signalled that instead of putting measures in the new legislation he might opt to change and strengthen existing energy efficiency policies.
At the conference, Liberal Democrat ministers were candid about the fault lines that had widened between the coalition partners about green energy.
Treasury secretary Danny Alexander remarked that working with the Conservatives “often feels like a constant war of attrition on green issues, on renewable energy and renewable investment”.
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 28th September 2012.
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