City Energy and Ceredigion County Council win a Welsh recognised award for tackling fuel poverty in Ceredigion with local residents.
Working together in partnership, Cardiff-based firm City Energy and Ceredigion County Council delivered significant benefits to 137 vulnerable residents in the area through the installation of energy-efficient measures in their homes last year. The success of the scheme has been recognised by GO Excellence in Public Procurement Awards Wales and both organisations were jointly awarded for ‘Best Contract Delivery’.
Councillor Dafydd Edwards, Cabinet Member with responsibilities for Highways and Environmental Services, Housing and Customer Contact said: “It’s fantastic news that we’ve received recognition for our Cozy Caron project – it’s enabled so many of our residents to improve their heating. The struggle to keep homes warm can have a detrimental impact on a person’s health and wellbeing, so this project really has had a positive effect on the residents who received support. Congratulations to the Housing Services team for their hard work and dedication in running the project.”
The Cozy Caron Scheme targeted vulnerable residents and their families living in energy inefficient homes and provided first time central heating systems and insulation measures. The target areas were rural communities where the gas network did not reach, leaving families reliant on more expensive types of fuel, e.g. solid fuel and oil to heat their homes. This has provided a warm and comfortable home, with reduced fuel costs to households in fuel poverty or on low income and vulnerable to the effects of the cold.
Neil Llewellyn, Customer & Community Director at City Energy said: “I am incredibly proud of what City Energy and Ceredigion County Council have achieved to help reduce fuel poverty in Wales. We are grateful to the residents of Ceredigion for trusting us to make their homes warmer and lives better.”
The scheme was funded by National Grid’s £150m Warm Homes Fund and has received a huge response in applications from local residents. Over 82% of Ceredigion’s households are located off the main gas network, meaning the residents have to rely on more expensive non-regulated fuels. This has contributed to the number of households currently deemed as being in ‘fuel poverty’ within the county. Funding for phase 2 of the project has now been secured which will enable the Council to install a further 120 first-time central heating systems into energy inefficient properties in the county; these will be air source heat pumps and LPG gas systems. Further information on how to apply for the project will be made available soon on the Council’s website. Ceredigion residents can still receive support and advice on how to make their homes more energy efficient by visiting the ‘Energy Efficiency Schemes’ section on the council’s website.
Jeremy Nesbitt, Managing Director of Affordable Warmth Solutions who administer the fund on behalf of National Grid said: “We are excited about this investment from National Grid and are delighted that the scheme has been recognised with this award. Solving the issues associated with Fuel Poverty continues to challenge many of our stakeholders and the feedback we’ve already received provides evidence of how the Warm Homes Fund will make a positive difference to thousands of homes throughout Great Britain.”
The Warm Homes Project (Cozy Caron) on behalf of City Energy Network has also been shortlisted in the Residential Energy Project of the Year category of the Energy Awards 2021 which will take place in September 2021.
27/05/2021