Plans ‘can cut €1,100 off home energy bill’

By Juno McEnroe

Thursday, October 22, 2009

CONSUMERS could save up to €1,100 on their annual costs to heat and light their home under energy efficient plans unveiled yesterday — and potentially create 32,000 jobs.

The bill saving proposals were launched by Energy Minister Eamon Ryan who said they would also provide a huge number of jobs.

The proposal by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), which is based in Dublin, sets out ways for households to cut their energy costs.

It concludes that about 1.2 million homes could be upgraded to save energy costs through a range of methods, including improved wall and attic insulation and more efficient lighting.

However, the IIEA report concludes that the investment needed to upgrade homes could be achieved at little or no cost to the taxpayer. Energy companies instead could initially foot the charge for home improvements, it suggests, and consumers would then pay this back on their bill which itself would fall because of reduced usage costs.

Mr Ryan said the IIEA plan closely mirrored what the Green Party had secured in its renewed programme for government.

"The capital costs are paid up front by the energy services company and that can be funded through their resources or through lending. It is higher purchase to cut your emissions. And the payments are made out of the savings that you make."

Senior researcher Joseph Curtin said that swift moves were needed if the green plan was to work.

"Bold action today will save tens of thousands of construction workers from the dole queues and drastically reduce energy bills in more than a million homes."

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, October 22, 2009