Sorting truly sustainable tech from marketing hype
eWeek Europe UK: Government Denies Price Hikes Will Negate Smart Grid Savings
Despite estimates that energy prices could increase by as much as 60 percent, the government has said smart metering could help cut bills in the long term
Concerns that rises in energy costs of up to 60 percent by 2020 could effectively wipe-out any reduction in bills offered by the introduction of smart meters and grids have been denied by the government.
Speaking to eWeek Europe UK, a spokersperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said that it was wrong to suggest that the introduction of smart meter technology would be undone by price rises of up to 60 percent predicted by energy watchdog Ofgem this week.
"Smart meters empower the consumer to see how much energy they are using and then they can go away and make as much saving as they want and if they make no savings then their bill will go up more than if they do make a saving," the spokesperson said. "It is not going to negate it - it will still mean that consumers will be able to pro-actively save themselves money."
The spokesperson denied that rolling out smart meters and other technology would effectively allow the UK to stand-still in terms of pricing. "No one is going to make that sort of prediction. The bottom line is that smart meters are going to save people money," the spokesperson said. "We have been clear that prices are not going to go down. We have to move to low carbon energy because of climate change and we have to realise that it is not going to be cheap and that bills are going to go up."
Ofgem issued a statement this week on the issues faced by the UK's energy sector and the resulting impact on pricing over the next 10 to 15 years. Chief among the challenges are volatile global gas market and power stations nearing the end of their life, the energy regulator said.
For more go to: eWeek Europe UK
Concerns that rises in energy costs of up to 60 percent by 2020 could effectively wipe-out any reduction in bills offered by the introduction of smart meters and grids have been denied by the government.
Speaking to eWeek Europe UK, a spokersperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said that it was wrong to suggest that the introduction of smart meter technology would be undone by price rises of up to 60 percent predicted by energy watchdog Ofgem this week.
"Smart meters empower the consumer to see how much energy they are using and then they can go away and make as much saving as they want and if they make no savings then their bill will go up more than if they do make a saving," the spokesperson said. "It is not going to negate it - it will still mean that consumers will be able to pro-actively save themselves money."
The spokesperson denied that rolling out smart meters and other technology would effectively allow the UK to stand-still in terms of pricing. "No one is going to make that sort of prediction. The bottom line is that smart meters are going to save people money," the spokesperson said. "We have been clear that prices are not going to go down. We have to move to low carbon energy because of climate change and we have to realise that it is not going to be cheap and that bills are going to go up."
Ofgem issued a statement this week on the issues faced by the UK's energy sector and the resulting impact on pricing over the next 10 to 15 years. Chief among the challenges are volatile global gas market and power stations nearing the end of their life, the energy regulator said.
For more go to: eWeek Europe UK
Add a Comment
About
Badge
© 2009 Created by Andrew Donoghue on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
You need to be a member of GreenwashIT.co.uk to add comments!
Join this social network