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I wouldn't expect huge changes in bills until we see how everything nets out, especially for businesses who don't benefit from the 3 year switch of ROCs to general taxation.
Interest rates on businesses borrowing money and inflation are on the way up so this will put pressure on the next round of CfD contracts.
CfD contracts are index linked so all the current CfD renewables will be going up
Transmission and Distribution costs will be under pressure.
Of course the change will help, be interesting to see actually how it all nets out on bills and general taxation, and what is left of UK businesses with the high cost of doing businesses in the UK...
Consumer energy debt has doubled to £5.5b in 3 years...
How very negative. Unfortunately you may be right and if you are the course the cause of that spiral is the result of successive Government actions over perhaps two decades (or maybe more) and/or external events over which we have little or no control.
Of course many, perhaps most, of the voters will not recognise that and just either (a) punish whichever government is most recently in power or (b) blame the 'other' (Brussels, Immigrants, people with short noses, people who wear grey suits, whoever they are encouraged to blame at any given time).
This leads almost inevitably to toxic politics of the sort that much of the media and some politicians now appear to thrive on. This not only makes people even less happy, but stifles productive and rational debate, leading inevitably to an exacerbation of the spiral and the rise of fraudsters offering false solutions who attempt to seize power, for their own good, through deception and misinformation.
All in all a bit scary, particularly if you believe in democracy.
This post was modified 1 day ago 2 times by JamesPa
4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.
£9k grant to move from oil to heat pump on boiler upgrade scheme!
Very curious to hear what everyone's opinion is on this. I will remain silent (for now)!
I would have started by spending some of the extra money advertising it and making people with oil heating more aware of its existence.
I'd also keep some of that extra money in a pot for the people facing real hardship, because with typical heat-pump installations costing around £12,500 on average (median), even after a bigger £9k grant, that's still £3.5k the householder needs to find. The households facing real financial hardship won't be able to afford the upgrade.
£9k grant to move from oil to heat pump on boiler upgrade scheme!
Very curious to hear what everyone's opinion is on this. I will remain silent (for now)!
I would have started by spending some of the extra money advertising it and making people with oil heating more aware of its existence.
I'd also keep some of that extra money in a pot for the people facing real hardship, because with typical heat-pump installations costing around £12,500 on average (median), even after a bigger £9k grant, that's still £3.5k the householder needs to find. The households facing real financial hardship won't be able to afford the upgrade.
£9k grant to move from oil to heat pump on boiler upgrade scheme!
Very curious to hear what everyone's opinion is on this. I will remain silent (for now)!
I would have started by spending some of the extra money advertising it and making people with oil heating more aware of its existence.
I'd also keep some of that extra money in a pot for the people facing real hardship, because with typical heat-pump installations costing around £12,500 on average (median), even after a bigger £9k grant, that's still £3.5k the householder needs to find. The households facing real financial hardship won't be able to afford the upgrade.
That may be part of the plan for all we know!
My greater concern is that oil is also something very well off houses use, do they really need the extra support?
Can I use that quotation when I next hold an energy seminar in the fuel-poverty areas of North Cornwall and Devon? 😉
That area is immensely rich in renewable electricity generation, but it provides no benefit to the local population.
Outside of Newquay, the gas distribution network isn't available north of the A30 route through the central spine of Cornwall.
Heating oil is the main fuel for dwellings and small commercial buildings beyond the gas network. 130,00 properties in Cornwall do not have access to mains gas.
Many Cornish homes are wanting to convert to Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil. But there isn't yet sufficient supply and there's a capital cost to convert each appliance of around £500. That's beyond the reach of households in energy poverty.
HVO is manufactured locally from turnips, swedes and ground-up grockles who outstay their welcome.
Can I use that quotation when I next hold an energy seminar in the fuel-poverty areas of North Cornwall and Devon? 😉
That area is immensely rich in renewable electricity generation, but it provides no benefit to the local population.
Outside of Newquay, the gas distribution network isn't available north of the A30 route through the central spine of Cornwall.
Heating oil is the main fuel for dwellings and small commercial buildings beyond the gas network. 130,00 properties in Cornwall do not have access to mains gas.
Many Cornish homes are wanting to convert to Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil. But there isn't yet sufficient supply and there's a capital cost to convert each appliance of around £500. That's beyond the reach of households in energy poverty.
HVO is manufactured locally from turnips, swedes and ground-up grockles who outstay their welcome.
Cut and paste from the latest government Warm Home Plan March 2026.
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The vast majority of rural homes are suitable for a heat pump. As of November, 50% of BUS grants have been paid to properties in rural areas and 39% to homes off the gas grid. For rural homes receiving a BUS grant, 96% were for air source heat pumps, 3% for ground source heat pumps and 1% for biomass boilers.
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The government are planning for the vast majority of the Cornwall homes to move to heat pumps?
My greater concern is that oil is also something very well off houses use, do they really need the extra support?
I get the concern, but it’s not quite that clear-cut in practice. We live fairly rurally, and most homes around us are on oil, with a few on LPG. Yes, there are definitely some households that don’t need the extra grant, but there are plenty who do. A lot are retired, often in older properties, and they’re exposed to high and unpredictable fuel costs. For many of them, that extra support could be the tipping point that actually gets a heat pump over the line.
As an example, there are 16 properties near us as part of a residential cluster and not one has a heat pump.
My greater concern is that oil is also something very well off houses use, do they really need the extra support?
I get the concern, but it’s not quite that clear-cut in practice. We live fairly rurally, and most homes around us are on oil, with a few on LPG. Yes, there are definitely some households that don’t need the extra grant, but there are plenty who do. A lot are retired, often in older properties, and they’re exposed to high and unpredictable fuel costs. For many of them, that extra support could be the tipping point that actually gets a heat pump over the line.
As an example, there are 16 properties near us as part of a residential cluster and not one has a heat pump.
Fair enough. As I said originally when you asked what people think my main reaction is Meh! Im not going to get animated about what represents such a small proportion of the total boiler population, there are bigger fish to fry.
The government are planning for the vast majority of the Cornwall homes to move to heat pumps?
Wonderful!
And have the authors of the Warm Home Plan found a way for those in energy poverty to fit a heat pump do we think? Where do they get the rest of the money from?
How long do we imagine it would take for those 130,000 homes to have heat-pump installed? Let's bear in mind that figure is double the number of HPs fitted per year in the whole of England & Wales.
The heating oil price crisis is happening now in 2026.
NGED are proposing a hefty increase in electricity bills for their next RIIO-ED3 Agreement with Ofgem, which commences April'28. [*] South West England has to pay substantially more for infrastructure upgrades to allow more of the local electricity generation to be sent elsewhere.
Anyone planning to fit heat-pumps in Cornwall now needs to factor that in. The price rises will make it less likely that they can afford the electricity to keep it running.
[*] I attended NGED's Workshop at Exeter on 14th April (last week) at which they presented their RIIO-ED3 proposals for 2028 - 2033.
This post was modified 13 hours ago 2 times by Transparent
The heating oil price crisis is happening now in 2026.
.....
Anyone planning to fit heat-pumps in Cornwall now needs to factor that in. The price rises will make it less likely that they can afford the electricity to keep it running.
er - how much is the Oil price rise relative to the electricity price rise? A lot more I imagine. If this is the case then it may well be less likely that they can afford the electricity to keep it running, but they are even less likely still to be able to afford the oil!
And have the authors of the Warm Home Plan found a way for those in energy poverty to fit a heat pump do we think? Where do they get the rest of the money from?
The Warm homes plan makes several references to direct support for low income households. We dont yet know the full details sofaik or whether it will be sufficient, but its clearly been thought of if not yet delivered. It says that delivery of the support will be through the existing Warm Homes Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) and Local Grant (WH:LG), before consolidating and integrating [the] investment into a single scheme for low-income households.
I do wonder if there is anything that any Government can actually do in reality in this sector that will make you happy! And if there is, is there any of the parties who are contending for our vote in 3.25 years actually likely to deliver that? If not, which comes closest, having regard specifically to the party values (and perhaps bearing in mind what Joe Biden once said - "Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.” ?
Please don't feel obliged to answer the last two questions!
This post was modified 13 hours ago 5 times by JamesPa
4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.
Many Cornish homes are wanting to convert to Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil. But there isn't yet sufficient supply and there's a capital cost to convert each appliance of around £500. That's beyond the reach of households in energy poverty.
HVO is manufactured locally from turnips, swedes and ground-up grockles who outstay their welcome.
We were actually on the HVO trial a few years ago, and I have to say it’s a brilliant drop-in fuel. From a user point of view, it’s about as painless a transition as you can get from kerosene.
On supply, the picture is a bit more nuanced. OFTEC have been pretty clear that there is sufficient supply capacity, particularly because HVO is largely produced from waste streams like used cooking oil, including recycled oils from the food industry (think fast food chains), rather than relying purely on virgin crops like rapeseed or, as you put it, turnips and swedes. The issue isn’t so much availability... it’s cost.
And that cost is where things fall apart. HVO is currently hammered by policy and levies that make it significantly more expensive than standard heating oil, which kills adoption. Before the Iran fiasco, kerosene was around 52-57p/litre, HVO was at £1.50/litre. If those were addressed, you’d likely see far more uptake very quickly.
On the conversion side, I think £500 is on the high side for most domestic systems. In many cases (as it was for us) it’s a nozzle change, potentially some seal or flexible hose replacements and a service, so with labour, it should typically come in well under £200. It’s not a major retrofit by any stretch.
The frustrating bit is that HVO could be a genuine transitional solution for off-gas homes (especially where a heat pump isn’t immediately viable) but I think policy is effectively holding it back.
