Act now to avoid industry crisis, ECA warns Liz Truss
ECA is urging new Prime Minister Liz Truss to support the sector and focus on prioritising skills, electrification and net zero.
The electrotechnical industry is key to upgrading Britain’s energy infrastructure. However, its work needs urgent government support to survive the energy bills crisis.
Andrew Eldred, ECA Director of Workforce and Public Affairs, says: “One of Liz’s first orders of business as Prime Minister must be to bring down the cost of energy by supporting the transition to low cost, low carbon solutions. Our sector is leading the way in pivoting businesses to net zero energy saving solutions.
“But in an industry dominated by SMEs averaging a 2.5% profit margin and faced with more than 23% inflation, the vast majority will struggle to cope with the latest energy price hikes adding to their own business overheads.
“Liz must act now to support electrotechnical SMEs and avoid an industry crisis with severe knock-on effects across the construction supply chain, the likes of which we have not seen since the collapse of Carillion in 2018.”
ECA is also urging Liz to bring forward the review of environmental and social (green) levies on energy bills. The current levies mean electricity is taxed four times more than gas. Taxing both fuels equally could reduce domestic fuel bills by £100 per year.
This will also provide an immediate incentive to increase the electrification of the UK’s energy, heat and transport networks, bolster the UK’s decarbonisation efforts, and help us become more energy-independent and less vulnerable to price fluctuations.
In an open letter backed by signatories including construction industry bodies BESA, BSRIA, FETA, MCS and SELECT, ECA has urged the Prime Minister to shift the balance of levies from electricity to gas, thereby encouraging a switch to electricity.
