We spoke to its secretariat co-ordinator, Leo Vincent, who is also policy advisor at E3G, to find out more about the aims and ambitions of Electrify Heat and what this means for installers.
Q What is the purpose of your organisation?
We work to enable the mass deployment of clean, efficient heating systems across the UK – predominantly electric heating.
Q What is the membership of the organisation?
A broad church membership; a cross section of the entire supply chain and ecosystem of electric heating systems. We are a cross-industry coalition made up of the UK’s leading energy companies, heat pump manufacturers and installers, consumer groups, financial institutions and trade bodies.
Q How many members do you have?
28
Q What are the objectives of your organisation?
- We want to see Government create a long-term and stable policy ecosystem which gives industry and investors confidence.
- We want to see the cost of electric heating come down (upfront cost of purchase and installation, running cost, and ‘hidden’ costs).
- To boost awareness and understanding through the creation of a national expert retrofit advice service for England to accelerate and derisk delivery of electric heating.
- To fight misinformation and bad faith actors lobbying parliament unimpeded.
- We want Government to find new ways to support the expansion of skills and the wider supply chain.
- To help policymakers unlock private and public finance and to bring new consumers to market.
Q What are the current challenges facing your membership and the broader sector?
The politicised culture wars against net zero, and heat pumps specifically, from right wing politicians and the right-wing media. The costs involved are still high for many households, especially the artificially high cost of electricity relative to gas. Also a lack of awareness about heat pumps and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the proliferation of misinformation in the sector. A chaotic former Government has damaged industry, consumer and investment confidence.
Q What are your main current activities?
We are asking Government to take the following actions to accelerate growth in the adoption of low carbon technologies:
Reduce the running cost of electricity. In the UK, electricity is artificially priced four times higher than gas – the most expensive electricity in Europe. For heat pumps, this means an effective elimination of their efficiency advantage over gas boilers, resulting in disproportionately high running costs and a much less attractive consumer offer. Long term and intermediary policy is urgently needed to address this price gap if we are to see the required increase in the uptake of heat pumps.
Forge ahead on the two easy wins. The Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) is technically due for its delayed introduction in April 2025, but a lack of clarity and commitment from the previous Government, along with a sustained lobbying effort from the gas industry, has resulted in confusion and uncertainty about its introduction. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) must reconfirm their commitment to the policy and sign-off on introduction of the CHMM from April 2025.
The Future Homes Standard is the UK Government’s raising of building standards for new homes, including the ambition for homes of the future to be built to better and efficient standards with low carbon heating, predominantly heat pumps. Similarly to the CHMM, industry is long awaiting the next steps to introduction, and we urge the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to publish the response to the technical consultation urgently.
Introduce a home upgrade loan scheme. Many countries have successfully introduced government-backed loan schemes for homeowners to improve their property’s energy efficiency or to upgrade to cleaner, greener technology like heat pumps. Treasury should provide the UK Infrastructure Bank with a ringfenced, flexible, long-term draw-down fund for lenders, offering zero and/or reduced concessional interest rates through a consumer focused initiative.
Support skills and the supply chain. UK Government must provide long-term policy certainty and stability to convey to heating sector workers that heat pumps are the future, not gas or oil. As an industry, we need to increase awareness of the Low-Carbon Heating Technician Apprenticeship, including among installers, colleges, and potential students. We must do more to engage the next generation of workers by highlighting the potential offered by the sector and how to train for them.
Get the grid in gear. To decarbonise heating, we must decarbonise the grid, and that means investing in transmission infrastructure and coordination between Government, Ofgem, the National Energy System Operator and the network operators. The priority now is moving from action plans to delivery models and investment at pace. This includes investing ahead of demand, a shift in Ofgem’s investment regime, speeding up planning and consent processes, and ensuring the supply chain has enough capacity to achieve the grid upgrades required.
Improve advice and marketing. Government should introduce a national, public awareness-raising campaign on the benefits of home energy efficiency and low carbon heating. When it comes to retrofitting our homes, Government has a crucial (and currently under-developed) role to play – not just in the transition, but in the consumer journey as a trusted messenger. Create a national expert retrofit advice service for England to accelerate and derisk delivery of the Warm Homes Plan.
Enable the full capability of all heat pumps. Unlock the potential of smart time-of-use tariffs for electric heating to significantly lower bills and reduce the need for, and to complement, future grid upgrades. UK Government must deliver an effective smart meter roll out, promptly introduce half-hourly settlement, and set out clear standards to enable interoperability. In addition, policy should support distributed heat networks and ground source heat pumps on shared ground loops, giving more low carbon heating options for consumers in flats and other high-density buildings.
Reform EPCs. Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are a key tool for engaging and informing consumers, but desperately require reform to ensure they are effective. Government should proceed with the relevant planned consultations on EPC reform and convene an expert panel with a remit to recommend a package of reforms to EPCs within one year.
Air source heat pumps – a prize for people
As a nation, we face challenges today like never before. A spiralling cost of living, a climate rapidly running out of control, and the sharp decline of our industrial heartlands – to name a few. And while there are no silver bullets in policy, at Electrify Heat, we believe that changing the way we heat our homes can turn the tide in all these struggles.
Electric heating, predominantly air source heat pumps, offer an immense prize to the British people. With accelerated deployment of heat pumps we can lower energy bills for households, protect the jobs of the future for our heating industry, and create a safer climate for all. The facts are that heat pump are up to four times as efficient as a gas boiler, have zero emissions, and can save households money on their energy bills.
However, without accelerated deployment of electric heating, we risk blowing our carbon budgets, costing households more in energy bills and remaining reliant on despots like Putin for our national energy needs. We also risk being left in an industrial dark age as global heating system manufacturing progresses to heat pumps over boilers. We work with Government to make sure the needs of our industry and the British people are heard, and are understood.
The new government needs to establish a robust framework for heat decarbonisation, including ensuring heat pumps are standard in all new homes, making electricity prices fairer, and introducing a new green loans scheme for retrofit. This is needed to support an industry that’s growing. Since increasing the Boiler Upgrade Scheme Grant to £7.5k, applications for heat pumps have shot up and steadily grown. In May, 2,905 applications were received, almost double what they were at that time last year.
Fundamentally, Electrify Heat believes that the installers on the ground are the tip of the spear when it comes to heating decarbonisation, but that they are also often the most knowledgeable stakeholders when it comes to understanding the challenges we face as an industry. We work with everyone and anyone who shares our mission to make clean, efficient electric heating solutions a reality for all British people; and we’d love to hear from you.
Please reach out if you’d like to discuss further. Leo can be contacted via email at leo.vincent@e3g.org.
Image credit: iStock/Marc_osborne
