EU Sets Tough Targets for Utilities to Cut Energy Consumption
<p>Under a new directive, energy companies would have to cut the energy used by their customers by 1.5 percent per year, potentially driving huge demand to building retrofit markets.</p>
Energy companies will be forced to offset sales with energy-efficiency measures and public buildings face green makeovers as part of new EU plans to cut energy consumption by 20 percent.
Europe's utilities could be obliged to save 1.5 percent of their energy sales by volume by installing more efficient boilers, fitting double-glazed windows and insulating lofts for their customers, if today's proposed Energy Efficiency Directive is approved.
Companies may also have the option of funding programmes or voluntary agreements that generate the same results, depending on their domestic government's implementation of the Directive.
The EU estimates that this measure alone will reduce its energy consumption by 6.4 percent in 2020, roughly equating to the current consumption of Poland and Portugal combined.
Large companies would have to audit their energy consumption to help identify potential areas for reduction, while SMEs will be incentivised to do the same. Public bodies will also be required to renovate three percent of their buildings each year from 2014 so they meet energy efficiency standards.
Launching the Directive, energy commissioner Günther Oettinger said: "Our proposal aims at making the way we use energy in our daily life more efficient and at helping citizens, public authorities and the industry to better manage their energy consumption, which should also lead to a reduced energy bill. It also creates an important potential for new jobs throughout the EU."
Oettinger said the EU had to take action as having targeted a 20 percent reduction in energy use three years ago, it was currently falling well short and would only achieve and 8.9 percent cut if additional measures were not taken.
The bloc published an action plan in March to reduce an annual energy import bill that currently amounts to around €270 billion (about US$384 billion) a year for oil and €40 billion (about US$57 billion) for gas and today followed up with the Directive, which will need to be approved by the EU's 27 governments and the European Parliament before it becomes law.
The EU will no doubt recognise its plans are likely to face opposition after Energy companies last week spoke out against the Directive, but insisted similar energy saving obligations have proved a success in Belgium, France and the UK.
This article originally appeared on BusinessGreen, and is reprinted with permission.
Photo CC-licensed by Troels Dejgaard Hansen
