My Lords, this amendment is dissimilar in many respects from the amendment we have just debated. I am not calling for a target, just to be consistent with voltage optimisation. It is a good opportunity for us to have a discussion about the role that voltage optimisation can play in helping to reduce our demand for electricity.
I first heard about voltage optimisation when I was working for Scottish and Southern Energy which was considering internally how it might go about meeting
a theoretical demand to reduce the demand of its customers. I was advocating voltage optimisation as a policy that it should embrace and the company was mulling over how it might meet it if it were to happen. The things the company thought about off the top of its head to reduce consumers’ demand were the greater use of thermometers and controls in heating, which was very obvious, and voltage optimisation on the electricity side. I had never heard of it, but the engineers understood the system far better than I could. They knew about voltage optimisation and its potential for knocking down demand in a very certain way.
One of the problems with demand reduction is that it can have a rebound effect. Some energy efficiency measures increase efficiency but do not produce a net reduction in demand. The fridge is a classic example. You get a bigger fridge that may be A++-rated, but its overall demand is greater. Voltage optimisation gave very clear and concrete outcomes.
When I arrived in this House, I came across a group of companies that are building and installing voltage optimisation equipment. They have formed a trade association, which I am very pleased about.
I have tabled this amendment to reiterate some of the benefits of voltage optimisation and to highlight that at the moment it is slightly falling between the cracks and does not receive any support, despite the fact that it can and does reduce electricity bills, has a very short payback period for companies and households that fit it and has the added advantage of stabilising the voltage used in equipment and extending the lifetime of that equipment. If you consider that the voltage coming into a home can fluctuate quite widely, a voltage optimisation unit will hold the voltage at an optimised level so that everything in the house is using that controlled voltage, which can extend the lifetime of white goods and other equipment that works far better on a stable voltage. I should have explained voltage optimisation at the start, but I assume a very high level of understanding among eminent noble Lords here.
The UK can lay claim to being a world leader in this industry. Two of the companies that I have spoken to spun out of universities and have established a UK manufacturing base for this equipment. I am told that the industry is currently contributing around £60 million per annum to the UK economy. It only started in 2000, so it is obviously a sector that is quite young, but growing.
The reason for this amendment is the concern that this technology is currently excluded from existing support mechanisms. It does not qualify for support under the ECO or the Green Deal. It seems that the reason is that it has not been accepted as part of the SAP rating of energy efficiency assessment for homes. The industry says that it has been trying to resolve this for a number of months—in fact, for years—and is feeling very frustrated that the department has not done more to expedite the issue. It seems that there is a slightly negative perception of this technology at the BRE. The industry is doing all it can to address the BRE’s concerns, but is seeking a little more political support from the department to expedite this process and recognise the great benefits that VO can bring.
I shall leave it there because we have already had a lengthy debate on a particular type of technology and this is a similar plea for greater awareness and priority to be given to this solution. There cannot be many things that will so clearly bring down demand, which also have the benefit of reducing customers’ bills, very short payback periods and increasing the lifetime of appliances. It seems to me strange that this is not being supported more by government. I know that the Government use this technology—I think that it has been installed in both No. 10 and DECC’s buildings and in many other public buildings. If it is as good as they say it is—and I am persuaded that it is—we should support it; it is as simple as that.
Obviously, this is a probing amendment, but I look forward to hearing reassurance from the Minister that voltage optimisation is an industry which the Government wish to support, and that she will address the fact that currently it falls outside all the support mechanisms. I beg to move.
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