Scottish and Southern Energy to reward energy efficient customers

Today’s announcement by Scottish and Southern Energy that it will be rewarding customers for using less energy is an interesting one, says uSwitch.com, the independent online comparison and switching service.

While full details are yet to be published, a scheme that provides energy bill credits in the first year of up to £100 will appeal to consumers, although they will have to meet certain criteria to qualify.

Geoff Slaughter, Energy Product Manager at uSwitch.com, says: “This is the carrot rather than the stick approach to boosting customers’ energy efficiency and is firmly in keeping with what we’d expect from Scottish and Southern Energy.

“However, this scheme is not going to be suitable for everyone as it will not simply be a case of cutting down on energy consumption. It will require initial investment from customers who will be asked to choose from a range of energy efficiency measures such as buying a low energy appliance at around £250 and paying £200 for loft insulation. They will also have to reduce overall energy consumption by 10%. Clearly, in this case, you will not be getting something for nothing.

“But, changing behaviour is the most difficult thing to do as old habits die hard. If it is to be a success then the scheme will need to be strongly and clearly communicated and customers must be given every opportunity to achieve the full credits available. This will come from education as well as the specific energy efficiency measures proposed.

“Energy suppliers have been making noises about more environmentally-driven products for some time and it is now becoming clearer that this means more than simply providing a few energy efficient light bulbs. Consumers will need to understand that there may be a cost attached. But this is likely to be the first of many schemes designed to boost greener behaviour and, apart from any initial concerns over cost, the only potential difficulty facing consumers will be choosing between them.”

Scottish and Southern Energy has also set itself a target to reduce its carbon emissions by 20% by 2015/16.