British Gas Offers £400 In Boiler Scrappage Scheme

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Ollie

The British gas boiler scrappage scheme is back, for a month with the gas provider offering £400 to anyone who trades in their old boiler.

British Gas will offer £400 to anyone trading in their inefficient boiler for a more energy efficient model but there’s only a month to apply.

The British Gas boiler scrappage scheme will last for a month until 30^th June 2011. Under the scrappage scheme British Gas will replace G-rated boilers with an A-rated model and customers will receive £400 off any of their Worcester range boilers or £200 off other boiler models.

But how do you know if you have a G-rated boiler? One way of telling if you have an older, inefficient boiler, is to check if it has a pilot light which is on all the time. If it does then it’s likely that it’s a G-rated boiler.

But basically if it’s a gas fired boiler and is over 15 years old, it’s likely to be eligible for the scrappage scheme. If it’s an oil fired boiler and over 20 years old then this too will be eligible for the scrappage scheme. In fact British Gas estimates that around 3.5 million boilers in the UK could be eligible for its scrappage scheme.

To qualify for the scheme you don’t even have to be a British Gas customer. The gas supplier has also said that customers don’t have to sign up to any other services such gas and electricity or any particular energy tariff to qualify.

So long as customers meet the criteria and they then decide to buy a new boiler, they will benefit from £400 off the cost of a new boiler. A British Gas spokeswoman said the boilers used in the scheme start at around £2,000, including installation.

However, changing to a more energy efficient model should reduce gas bills because they use less fuel, although it’s suggested that the pay-back time for the boiler could take around 8 years.

At the beginning of 2010 the Government ran a boiler scrappage scheme which several energy suppliers contributed to. Many either offered their own scrappage scheme or matched the Government’s scrappage allowance. It means other energy providers may follow British Gas and offer a boiler scrappage scheme – we’ll keep you informed if they do.

Shale Gas Extraction Set To Be Approved In UK

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Emma

The drilling of shale gas may be given the go-ahead after a report by the Energy Select Committee.

Utility Exchange reported last year that exploration tests were being carried out near Blackpool to look for shale gas and now shale gas extraction may be permitted in the UK despite the fact that it’s unlikely to have an impact on energy prices or energy security.

The report by the Energy Select Committee suggested there was no risk of the extraction process called “fracking” (hydraulic fracturing process) posing a risk to underground water aquifers – as long as the drilling well is properly built.

The chairman of the committee, Tim Yeo, said, “There appears to be nothing inherently dangerous about the process of fracking itself and, as long as the integrity of the well is maintained, shale gas extraction should be safe. Regulatory agencies must of course be vigilant and monitor drilling closely to ensure that air and water quality is not being affected”.

According to the British Geological Survey there could be around 150 billion cubic metres of onshore shale-gas in the UK. This the equivalent of 1.5 years of total UK gas consumption and is worth around £28bn at today’s prices.

Mr Yeo said “Onshore shale-gas reserves in the UK could be quite considerable and will certainly help us increase our energy security — although not, unfortunately, very dramatically”.

Despite the fact that shale-gas will help to improve our energy security the report said the gas was unlikely to have an effect on gas prices. The good news is that the UK has potentially large offshore reserves of shale gas and the report suggests the government should encourage the development of the offshore shale gas industry.

Mr Yeo said of the offshore gas “While more costly to recover, [offshore reserves] could potentially deliver self-sufficiency in gas for the UK at some point in the future”.

Back in September last year Utility Exchange reported that the foreign affairs analysts Chatham House suggested that placing too much reliance on shale gas may result in higher gas prices in the future because countries may face problems exploiting it. For example some countries may find there are environmental, geological or economic problems with developing the shale gas industry.

The extraction process involves pumping thousands of gallons of water at high pressure into the shale. This causes fractures which release the gas.

As wholesale gas prices increase leading to higher domestic and business gas prices the extraction of shale gas may be encouraged as the government looks at ensuring energy security.

BP Rosneft Deal Collapses

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Kathryn

In January BP announced a joint venture with the Russian energy company Rosneft but the deal between the two companies has now collapsed.

Attempts have been made over the last few weeks to save the deal but it’s eventually collapsed. The end of the agreement is also the end of plans the two companies had to explore for oil in Russia’s Arctic waters.

Part of the problem involved BP’s current Russian partners and Rosneft and BP were unable to come up with an agreement which suited all parties. Four billionaire partners in TNK-BP argued in a London court that the deal between BP and Rosneft dishonoured an agreement they already had with BP. BP and the four thought the deal could work if it was done through their joint venture TNK-BP but Rosneft wasn’t happy with the four billionaires joining the deal.

It’s unclear what effect the collapse of this deal with have on BP’s hopes of exploring the Arctic for oil. However, talks are still ongoing between the two energy companies so it remains to be seen what, if any, deals emerge from these.

The chief executive of BP group, Bob Dudley, said in a statement “BP remains committed to Russia, to working constructively with Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) in TNK-BP and to our existing good relationship with Rosneft”.

Talks are still ongoing between Rosneft and BP with the focus on finding a way of buying out the Russian oligarchs from TNK-BP. There are a number of points still to be discussed including whether or not to let one of the men, Mikhail Fridman have a share of the equity in BP and Rosneft.

Chairman of the Alfa Group, Mr Fridman said “AAR … sees significant benefit to developing cooperation with Rosneft within the framework of the TNK-BP shareholder agreement, and we plan to continue discussions about potential collaboration among BP, Rosneft and AAR”.

In the meantime as the agreement between BP and Rosneft has now collapsed the Russian oil giant is now able to look at partnerships with other oil giants including Shell and ExxonMobil.

BP had hoped the Rosneft deal would help improve its fortunes after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year.

Centrica Buys Family Plumbing Firm PH Jones

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Ollie

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has bought a family plumbing company for £30 million.

Centrica has bought two thirds of a family plumbing business, PH Jones, run by Mr Jones and his wife for nearly 50 years, for £30 million.

Centrica is buying the plumbing company to add weight to its Community Energy division. This is the social housing division which provides central heating services for around 250,000 properties. It also installs over 8,000 central heating systems over the course of a year.

Mr and Mrs Jones’ two sons will continue to run the remaining utility services division of the company which has a turnover of around £15m a year. Martin Jones said “Having nurtured and successfully grown the business for nearly 50 years, the time is right for mum and dad to exit the company and enjoy a well-earned retirement”. He continued “We’ve built this business on strong family values and these have been the foundation of its success”.

The brothers will now concentrate on the growing smart metering business with plans to double turnover by 2014. Martin Jones said “By solely concentrating on metering services, our aim is to continuously improve the service delivery”.

While the Jones brothers will retain 250 engineers and 50 support staff, 850 workers will transfer to British Gas.

Centrica said the new business would improve its social housing energy services business. It added that it would also help social housing companies to reduce residents’ energy consumption, carbon emissions and energy bills.

The Managing Director of British Gas Community Energy, Betsy Bassis, said “The acquisition of PH Jones significantly accelerates our growth strategy. PH Jones is a successful, profitable company in this sector and combining its strengths with those of British Gas will deliver important benefits for our customers”.

British Gas Launches Energyshare

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Emma

British Gas has withdrawn Future Energy and Future Energy Plus from the market and launched Energyshare with immediate effect.

Energyshare is a partnership involving British Gas, River Cottage, Scottish Enterprise and Channel 4 which is designed to completely change the way people source, use and generate their energy.

Energyshare is all about reducing the nation’s carbon footprint and helping people source green energy for their home and helping the community develop local energy projects.

Energyshare wants to bring people together to change the way we source our energy because at the moment only about 2% of people are on green tariffs.

At the moment there’s £500,000 available in the initial launch round of the Energyshare fund but partners British Gas and River Cottage want to find more funding. As a start over the next 3 years British Gas will distribute £3m to community renewable energy projects through the Energyshare fund.

British Gas customers who sign up to Energyshare will see the amount of electricity used by them matched with electricity from 100% British sources of renewable energy. The price for the Energyshare tariff is the same as the British Gas Standard Tariff.

British Gas customers will be able to choose from four Energy Efficiency gadgets. They will receive this gadget free and British Gas will also donate £10 per Energyshare customer every year to the Energyshare fund with customers being able to vote online to decide where the money raised goes.

This new tariff is available to both new and existing customers. British Gas will automatically move current green customers from their current green proposition and on to Energyshare. However, customers will be able to opt out of this migration and move back on to a standard energy tariff.