Report: “Towards Sustainable Energy Tariffs”

Citation

(2009), "Report: “Towards Sustainable Energy Tariffs”", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 10 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2009.24910baf.001

Report: “Towards Sustainable Energy Tariffs”

Article Type: Feature From: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Volume 10, Issue 2

One of the ways for energy suppliers to foster lower energy use among their customers – and thereby to meet their statutory obligations to reduce carbon emissions – is by changing the way they price their gas or electricity. This line of thinking also applies to universities, which are among the main users of energy. A study by the UK-based Centre for Sustainable Energy aimed to explore whether this could be done in a way that would be both fair to low-income consumers and financially viable for the companies involved, using a method which may also apply to other institutions.

The report identifies three possible options by which tariffs and non-tariff policies could improve energy sustainability: a further development of existing policy, by which suppliers are encouraged to offer more meaningful incentives to their better-off customers to reduce consumption and more extensive social tariffs for low-income customers; rising block tariffs, by which the first block of a household’s energy consumption is offered at a low rate, with subsequent blocks costing progressively more; and variable VAT rates, through which energy consumption is taxed at for example 5 per cent up to a certain threshold and 17.5 per cent above this, and possibly even at a greater rate for higher levels of consumption. Along with these three recommendations, the report suggests the introduction of a feed-in tariff for small-scale renewable electricity and heat generation – conditional upon investment in energy efficiency measures in the property.

Further details are available at: www.cse.org.uk/cgi–bin/news.cgi?full&live&&1341