NI Consumers Excluded From Boiler Scheme
14 January 2010
Phoenix Natural Gas has today written to Stormont Ministers to ask why ‘Northern Ireland consumers have been excluded from a government initiative, backed by taxpayers money’.
Many in the energy sector here believe that the UK government needs to urgently rethink its decision to exclude Northern Ireland from a recently announced boiler scrappage scheme that will give households in England £400 off the cost of a new high efficiency boiler. The boiler scrappage scheme was announced in the pre-Budget report last month and according to the government it will help households cut their energy bills, reduce CO2 emissions and support thousands of jobs. Up to 125,000 households in England could benefit from the scheme, which is costing taxpayers across the United Kingdom £50 million.
British Gas is planning to match the government's £400 discount and other firms are offering similar savings too. The scheme comes into play on 18th January in England only.
Alastair Pollock, Retail Director at Phoenix Natural Gas, said:
“We would urge both the Department of Social Development and Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment here to do all they can in order to get Northern Ireland involved in reaping the benefits of this excellent scheme. It seems strange that we are able to avail of UK government cold weather payments here, yet are excluded from this much anticipated boiler scrappage programme”.
Phoenix also stated that although they remained hopeful that the scheme would eventually be introduced here, in the meantime they would be providing a range of incentive schemes, including their own scrappage scheme, for householders to encourage them to upgrade their old costly central heating over to high efficiency natural gas systems.
Around 50% of homes and businesses in the wider Greater Belfast area have already converted to natural gas, reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by a massive 250,000 tonnes per annum.