The Green Deal looks set to be a major source of employment. At the front end alone, thousands of people could be employed in delivering the scheme to customers, including: assessors, to advise on energy efficiency options and oversee any work undertaken; installers, putting in measures ranging from simple loft insulation to microgeneration equipment; and administrators, to look after loan agreements and other paperwork.
So far so good. However, recruitment will not be straightforward. For one thing, there is still some way to go before some concerns around the initiative are ironed out and work can begin in earnest on recruiting. For another, the electricity sector already has a significant shortage of skilled workers, due in part to an ageing workforce. Given there are also plans to roll out smart meters, which will require thousands of installers to be found and trained, this could prove to be a challenge. The problem will be acute if there is a huge demand concentrated on a single area – for example, if a local council decided to implement the Green Deal for an entire housing estate.
Energy & Utility Skills Group (EU Skills), which includes the National Skills Academy for Power, has been given the task of assisting in training the workforce for the Green Deal. It is working on behalf of the larger utility companies to create pathways to find the right teams skilled to the right levels.
Aside from direct employment, the avenues it is exploring include joint venture initiatives where utilities could share in skills from other sectors, and contracting out. EU Skills’ own “talent bank” is also a potential source of recruitment, guiding apprentices into the opportunities available and encouraging training in the necessary skills.
Aside from recruitment, a second major challenge for skills professionals is to give people confidence in the work being done on their homes or businesses. Installers will have to meet the standards of the Green Deal Appointment Scheme and be accredited. So far, the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, which certificates microgeneration technologies and is linked to financial incentives including feed-in tariffs, has been touted as an option. But it may be that a hybrid of this is eventually settled upon.
Rob Moore is operations manager for low carbon at the National Skills Academy for Power.
Local heroes: the Green Deal must energise small businesses and supply chains as well as big national utilities
Energy secretary Chris Huhne has predicted that the Green Deal could support a 250,000 jobs over the next 20 years, representing significant opportunities for both old and new businesses. But the vast benefits of the Green Deal can be realised only if local and regional communities and businesses play a part in delivering and supporting schemes. There is a risk that only a few will feel the positive effect if larger national retailers and energy utilities take the biggest bite of the cherry, and use existing systems, processes, infrastructures, skills and people to deliver the Green Deal instead of developing new supply chains and recruiting new skills at a local level.
While there is nothing wrong with utilities and retailers running national schemes (many of them have a wealth of experience in this field), they need to make sure they use the skills and regional knowledge available to them through local businesses and trades people. These people better understand the local housing stock and those who live and work in the community, so aside from local job creation, this would benefit residents and Green Deal providers.
Thanks to the unique way energy efficiency measures will be paid for under the Green Deal, sole traders will be able to compete for businesses alongside the large retailers and energy companies. It would be a travesty if small businesses lost out because they could not compete with the mass marketing tools available to big players.
It is here that local authorities have a role to play. Climate Energy is already in discussions with many local authorities that want to provide local residents with an approved Green Deal scheme. A relatively simple yet effective approach could be to promote the services of local businesses as Green Deal providers to local residents, or even team up with a consortium of tradesmen to offer residents a locally managed and staffed Green Deal scheme.
Garry Worthington, head of Green Deal, Climate Energy
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 27 January 2012.
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