BRIEFING PAPER - THE FUTURE OF THE ENERGY COMPANY OBLIGATION BOOSTING DELIVERY TO TACKLE FUEL

BRIEFING PAPER MARCH 2024 THE FUTURE OF THE ENERGY COMPANY OBLIGATION BOOSTING DELIVERY TO TACKLE FUEL POVERTY AND UPGRADE HOMES JAMES DYSON The energy company obligation (ECO) is the government’s flagship fuel poverty alleviation programme, and one of the main pillars to improve overall energy efficiency. [...] However, changes to the scheme have led to a major fall in the number of households benefiting from the scheme. [...] Experts argue TrustMark’s approach to assurance does not provide sufficient cover in the case of a failure.7 For example, renumeration tends to be based on the original cost of the works rather than the cost of remediating the issue. [...] Furthermore, the approach to assurance has no active relationship with the surveillance bodies and does not have competent resources on the street to check on the quality and capability of installers. [...] We work on the frontier of the climate landscape, tackling the barriers and advancing the solutions to a safe climate.