I don't think so, though not certain. It's via a scheme called Home Energy Scotland

England and Wales - but Scotland already has a separate £9k subsidy for rural homes.
Northern Ireland, alas...

What does the UK government's heat pump grant actually mean for oil-using households’ bills? The UK government announced an uplift to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) grant for households on heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The grant will rise from £7,500 to £9,000 for these home...

All of this is taken from excellent analysis by my @nestauk.bsky.social colleagues Dan Lewis and Lily Downes (@lilydownes.bsky.social). Have a read here:

www.nesta.org.uk/blog/what-do...

Chart showing satisfaction with heat pumps relative to previous heating system. For switchers from electric heating (87%) LPG boilers (82%) and oil boilers (83%), satisfaction is well above 80%. For gas boilers, it is 75%

And our heat pump survey found especially high levels of satisfaction with heat pumps among households who switched from oil and LPG boilers

Scatter chart showing the number of heat pumps installations under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (y-axis) versus the % of off-gas-grid homes by local authority. More rural / off-grid areas tend to have more heat pumps.

You may think heat pumps don't work in rural homes, but they really do. Heat pumps are already much more common in rural and off-gas-grid areas...

Chart showing median installation costs for air source heat pumps in different types of homes. A flat costs £9,650; a bungalow or a semi or terraced is £11,500; a detached homes is £12,700.

How much does a heat pump typically cost if you have a £9,000 subsidy. Costs vary, but in a typical semi or terrace, you'd be looking at around £2,500 after the increased BUS subsidy. That's probably cheaper than a new oil boiler...

Chart shows annual heating bills for medium-sized home with an oil boiler (£1,476), an LPG boiler (£1,473) and a heat pump (£784), all at current energy prices. The heat pump is considerably cheaper to run, saving over £650

The UK government has announced £9,000 subsidies for households with oil and LPG boilers to get a heat pump.

This is seriously good deal for rural homes - not only does it lower the upfront cost, a mid-sized home could save over £650 a year by switching from oil to a heat pump at current prices...

They are increasing it! 45% -> 55%

RO contracts mostly end between 2031 and 2037.
But RO is a bit different to CfDs. It’s a top up on top of the market price - so doesn’t provide any stability, just subsidy. I imagine the quid quo pro would be that the generators get an extension to their contract in return for lower prices

Good question.
The reason is because you still want the power, and without a CfD these generators will trade on the open market, which may be more expensive.
But there is obviously a downside that you could be locking in more expensive power during calmer times.

Doesn’t break it, but weakens it - because more electricity generation is on CfDs

I think this makes sense, because the gas price link is gradually being broken anyway (by more clean power), but it will take a while to get there

New energy saving grants for households in face of Iran war bill threat Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to unveil new package of new zero policies as UK is left counting cost of Middle East energy crisis

The Mirror has the story, and it’s in the government press release, I promise

www.mirror.co.uk/money/new-en...

In other Ed Miliband news… the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (heat pump subsidy) is going up from £7,500 to £9,000 for homes in rural areas that rely on oil or LPG.

Given the spike in heating oil prices, and how good an option heat pumps are in rural areas, this is a good idea

Perhaps telling that, amid all the speculation, this is what Ed is doing

For the legacy renewables, which are generally more expensive anyway and are able to exploit the market during crises, this seems like a particularly good move.
Hopefully the government can make it happen, with a mix of carrot and stick

The downside, of course, is that CfDs can mean higher prices when gas is cheaper.
This is what Britain’s electricity policy has been doing for years, and is doing even faster now: trading away the possibility of prices falling a lot in return for stability and insulation from crises

CfDs are great in an energy crisis, because they give a steady price, often cheaper than the gas-driven wholesale price.
Newer renewables already tend to be on CfDs, but older ones tend not to be. Pushing more old renewables onto CfDs should make prices much more stable

Happily, the government has been listening to Sam.
Ed Miliband will be doubling down on clean energy today (giving a speech at 11) announcing moves to shift more legacy renewables on to Contracts for Difference…

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Yes!

As Ed Miliband seeks to 'double down' on the UK energy transition to clean power, this is a reminder of why that matters to consumers:

The highest proportion of fossil fuels in the energy mix leads to the highest prices according to Fidelity international

www.ft.com/content/6b4e...

I am very interested in a “price cap for flex” - indeed, one of the ideas @johnspringford.bsky.social and I floated in our essay The Hole.

I guess the challenge is how you set it when peak / off peak periods are not always the same every day, and whether it ends up being more expensive for many hhs

There are two much simpler things government can do now. The first is to push those legacy renewables onto CfDs. Why would they give up their nice rents? 1. lots are coming to an end - a long term stable income is attractive. 2. Reform has promised to cancel legacy renewables, and it can easily. A CfD is harder to rip up as it's protected by private law - but as we've seen with Trump the law is not always a barrier to ideology. 3. A bit of stick. Government brought in the energy generator levy post Ukraine to address windfall profits to electricity generators. I wouldn't be afraid to ramp this up as an incentive to change (or fail safe if they don't move).

On those short term actions, I liked Sam’s take on how you could push older renewables (which make a lot of money, especially when gas is expensive) on to CfDs…

Reforms are definitely needed in the long term, but they take time and there are risks of doing everything at once.
The best course of action imo is quicker fixes that ease the pain of transition, and keep us heading fast to a world where we have enough renewables + nuclear to usually set prices

EE 2.2 Consious Uncoupling Breaking the link between gas and electricity is easier than you think

This is a good read by @samalvis.bsky.social, and this is basically what I think on the whole “decoupling gas and electricity prices” thing.

The first best answer is “build more renewables and flex”, and we’re making a lot of progress on that

A block of 8 flats (probably a 50s or 60s council block) that have had an additional storey with pitch roof added. The white balcony walls have had holes added covered by black railings, in a nautical style

Another angle is the extra storey with pitched roof on the block of flats

Really love the updates to this block of flats. An extra storey on top (with a pitched roof 😍) and very nice curved railings breaking up the balcony walls

"It will also seek to amend a directive to ensure electricity is taxed at levels below those of fossil fuels. A more ambitious proposal was dropped in 2025, but officials are optimistic the energy crisis will help kick-start discussions on the measure."

Dat wordt wel eens tijd.

Brussels pushes remote working to ease energy crisis European Commission also recommends heat pumps and public transport subsidies

All sensible, and in keeping with my and @elisabettaco.bsky.social's recommendations here www.cer.eu/insights/ene...

www.ft.com/content/bbc9...

Brussels pushes remote working to ease energy crisis European Commission also recommends heat pumps and public transport subsidies

An impressive set of recommendations to respond to the Hormuz crisis from the EU. I’m not clear whether they’ll be adopted by member states. If they are, I think the EU could be drastically less reliant on fossil fuels within a few years. Can the UK follow suit?

The annoyance economy isn’t going anywhere We must find our own amusements in dealing with spam, robocalls and chatbots

Enjoyed this by @emmavj.bsky.social, on the annoyance economy (or Trapping People For Money)

Picture of station staff at Redland station in 1903. Text describes 11 staff employed at the station, including a station master, but reductions as early as 1909

Side note: despite what Baumol says, you can definitely get productivity gains in services. The tiny station used to employ 11 staff!