Design of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO): 2023-2026
Download the full outcome
Detail of outcome
Update: 3 August 2023
The Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2023 was made on 24 July 2023, with Parts 1 to 10 of the Order coming into force on 25 July 2023.
The government’s response following its consultation on the Great British Insulation Scheme (previously titled and consulted on as Energy Company Obligation Plus (ECO+)) summarises the responses received and related government decisions in implementing the scheme.
The consultation set out the government’s proposals to obligate larger energy suppliers to deliver predominantly insulation measures to a wide range of households living in the least efficient homes to reduce annual heating bills.
Having considered the responses, the government intends to proceed with plans to introduce the scheme from Spring 2023 until March 2026. The scheme will boost help for those on low incomes as well as extending support to households living in homes in the lower council tax bands (A to D in England, A to E in Scotland and Wales), with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D and below.
The response includes detailed information about scheme implementation, including in relation to:
- energy supplier obligations and annual targets (note that the impact assessment sets out the final annual targets, whilst the earlier published government response included a preliminary, maximum first year target to help facilitate early delivery)
- household eligibility for both a ‘general group’ and ‘low-income group’
- measures that households can receive through the scheme, with higher cost measures more likely to require a household contribution
Detail of feedback received
We received 176 responses to this consultation from a wide range of stakeholders, including:
- larger energy suppliers
- trade associations
- voluntary groups
- local authority organisations
- individuals with an interest in energy efficiency and fuel poverty
The responses were broadly supportive of the government’s proposals.
Original consultation
Consultation description
15 December 2022: consultation document and consultation impact assessment updated
Revised text on page 39 of the consultation document, under the heading “Customer contribution” is: “we expect the majority of higher-cost measures with a customer contribution to be delivered to the general eligibility group, which includes an estimated 8.3 million households in Great Britain that are not part of the low-income group.”
The impact assessment document has been updated with corrected analysis for Policy Option 2. The previous analysis for this option incorrectly excluded households that are in both the low-income group and general eligibility group. These households are now included in the modelling for Option 2. The modelling for the other policy options remains unchanged.
Open update history at the end of this page for previous updates.
This document sets out proposals for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO).
ECO is a programme to deliver energy efficiency measures in homes across Great Britain. ECO+ will be an addition to the current ECO4 scheme to deliver rapid installation of energy efficiency measures to households, including:
- those on the lowest income
- those in the least energy efficient homes in the lower council tax bands.
We would like to hear from a wide range of stakeholders, including:
- consumer representatives
- energy suppliers
- those with an interest in energy efficiency and fuel poverty policies
The consultation covers ECO+ for the period spring 2023 to March 2026.
Documents
Last updated 3 August 2023 + show all updates
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The legislation is now in force.
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The draft Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2023 is now available on legislation.gov.uk, so we have removed the copy from this page.
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Final Impact Assessment and copy of draft Order added.
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Government response published.
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A change has been made to the text on page 39 of the Design of the Energy Company Obligation ECO+: 2023-2026 (consultation document), under the heading “Customer contribution”. A revised version of the consultation document has been published. The Design of the Energy Company Obligation ECO+ Consultation Stage Impact Assessment has been updated with corrected analysis for Policy Option 2. The previous analysis for this option incorrectly excluded households that are in both the low-income group and general eligibility group. These households are now included in the modelling for Option 2. The modelling for the other policy options remains unchanged. A revised version of the document has been published.
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A revised version of the consultation document has been published. A change has been made to the text on page 18 of the Design of the Energy Company Obligation ECO+: 2023-2026 (consultation document), under the heading "Measure cost assumptions". The revised text is “A 60% uplift has been applied to cavity wall and loft insulation, based on evidence of the costs of these measures from the 2020/21 Green Homes Grant Vouchers Scheme. The costs of all measures in 2021 prices are then inflated by 10% to convert them into 2022 prices and rounded to avoid spurious accuracy.”
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Design of the Energy Company Obligation ECO+ Consultation Stage Impact Assessment published.
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First published.