NEA NI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs ‘Call for Evidence and views on the Climate Change Bill’.

NEA NI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Department for Economy’s consultation on policy options for a new Energy Strategy for Northern Ireland.

This newsletter is sponsored by the Public Health Agency through our Northern Exposure project. It will provide you with current programmes of work aimed at providing advice or support to householders as well as up to date fuel poverty policy information.

This strategy will impact upon every energy commodity in Northern Ireland from power station, to building, to vehicle. However, as a fuel poverty and energy efficiency campaigning charity, NEA NI will be specifically focussing on the key considerations for domestic housing stock and low-income householders.

Urgent action is needed to improve health outcomes and support the most vulnerable people who are at most risk of needless death and morbidity. Public Health England (PHE) recently warned there is a clear overlap between cold homes and Covid-19 and it is more important than ever that the most vulnerable members of society can afford to live in a warm, safe home.

The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (CCNI) plays a fundamental role in providing vital information, advice and advocacy for all consumers in Northern Ireland, with a focus on vulnerable consumers. This work has great importance for NEA and many organisations throughout Northern Ireland, both strategically and operationally, and we welcome the opportunity to respond to this Draft Corporate Plan 2021–2022.

NEA NI works closely with the Utility Regulator across many aspects of work, but especially in relation to consumers and policy development, also with the view to empowering consumers and communities. We have made some comments around the objectives in the draft Forward Work Programme and have made some suggestions, which we hope are helpful on priority projects, which we believe may enhance the Forward Work Programme 2021–22.

This newsletter is sponsored by the Public Health Agency through our Northern Exposure project. It will provide you with current programmes of work aimed at providing advice or support to householders as well as up to date fuel poverty policy information.

While we understand that, at present, the key focus for the Department is to ensure that the Single Electricity Market (SEM) is maintained and fully operational after the implementation period. We also note that issues such as retail, consumer vulnerability and fuel poverty issues are an integral part of the Electricity Directive and Clean Energy Package as a whole and the translation of these issues have been paused and are to be considered under the new energy strategy.