I completed a survey for our industry associations today, on the apparent low take up of the latest phase of the RHPP grant payments. Funnily enough we worked with our clients to ensure at all possible installs took place before the 31st of March deadline. Because of the unique way government funding works, there can be no formal confirmation of the scheme being extended, even though that is what happened in 2012 and not all the grant funding had been allocated! Therefore it is no surprise to me that very few installs have been registered over the last couple of months. I suspect that if the registrations per month were compared to last year, the same peaks and troughs would be seen.
I am increasingly aware of clients increased cynicism about proposed grant funding to support renewables and general UK energy policy. Set against the backdrop of headlines such as “the lights going off in 2015” and only “3 people having completed a Green Deal installation”, politicians are hardly bathing themselves in glory. Even with the natural optimism required of a small business entrepreneur, my faith is being tested.
Sitting in the glorious (finally) heat of our summer, the constant battle for consumers and ever more expensive energy bills seems a distant memory. Sorry to remind you, but the heating season is only 10-12 weeks away. About the same time frame as to the proposed announcement of the domestic tariff for the Renewable Heat Incentive. Lets hope that they finally tick this one off the list. Only, nuclear, fracking, fuel poverty, increased energy demand and CO2 reduction to go.
Subscribe to our monthly emails:
