The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) has welcomed the Prime Minister’s plan to freeze average energy bills for households but believes more should be done to protect businesses.
John Newcomb, CEO of the BMF, said: “While we are pleased that the new PM has acted swiftly to protect consumers from escalating energy costs for the next two years, it is disappointing that support for business energy bills is only certain to run for six months.
“The extreme price volatility in the wholesale market over the summer has seen some firms experience electricity costs fluctuating by up to 300% on a day-to-day basis. This situation is likely to be exacerbated by Russia’s indefinite closure of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, and energy-intensive manufacturing businesses need the certainty provided by a longer-term support package.”
Furthermore, the BMF would also like to see the government helping families to improve the energy and thermal performance of their homes. This would both have a long-term effect on family budgets while also creating meaningful jobs across the country.
John continued: “There is an urgent need to address home energy-efficiency in the UK, where a high proportion of homes are rated EPC Band C or below. We need Liz Truss to understand the enormity of the capacity and capability of the workforce needed as part of a National Retrofit Strategy to decarbonise buildings and electrify heating – required to achieve Net Zero.
“One of our key asks of the government is to commit to a comprehensive, properly-funded national plan of investment in training to boost the number of competent, qualified people equipped to upgrade the energy efficiency of homes and to install low- or zero-carbon solutions.”
>>Read more about the cost of living crisis here.
