We’ll never hit our targets for cutting CO2 say energy firms

MSPs heard there are “grave concerns” among the main three suppliers in Scotland about meeting the terms of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), aimed at saving 293 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The Community Energy Savings Programme (CESP) was also supposed to deliver £350 million of measures to 90,000 homes, avoiding 2.9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

But Kevin Roxburgh, managing director of Scottish Gas, told Holyrood’s economy, energy and tourism committee that they were unlikely to be delivered.

“We don’t believe the targets are achievable under the current programme,” he told MSPs.

The firm is now looking for an extension, as well as talks with the government about how it can improve the programmes.

Energy companies are obliged to meet these initiatives, with the failure to comply carrying a potential fine of up to 10 per cent of turnover.

The measures in the schemes are paid for through a levy on bills, which has caused anger among consumer groups.

Rupert Steele, director of regulation at ScottishPower, said: “We have grave concerns about the deliverability of the targets.”

He added that the firm was struggling to identify priority customers – mainly low-income groups – without any information about incomes.

“That’s incredibly hard to deliver,” he said. “There are real problems that need to be addressed.”

On the CESP target, Mr Steele blamed the “very complicated” formula used to calculate the target for causing confusion.

“You end up with this bizarre situation where you’re saving more real carbon than the target, but less ‘notional’ carbon,” he said.

Lindsey Restrick, energy efficiency project manager at Scottish & Southern Energy, also voiced concerns.

“We are finding it quite challenging,” she said.

She added that the “rigidity of the CESP” scheme is proving difficult.

The CERT target was just the latest “variation of a theme” in terms of government cavity wall and loft insulation schemes, according to Ms Restrick. “There are definite challenges to these schemes,” she added.

CERT requires all domestic energy suppliers with more than 50,000 customers to make savings in the amount of CO2 emitted by householders.

The committee also heard from Norman Kerr, director of Energy Action Scotland (EAS).

He said: “EAS projections, and indeed the Cabinet secretary [Alex] Neil’s own figures, state that by the end of this year it is likely that there will be 900,000 households in Scotland living in fuel poverty, not 600,000. And the majority of that is caused by the fuel price increases that are biting just now.”