The expert independent group called for increased public investment in home energy efficiency to avoid a future crisis

South Yorkshire businessed and community groups have backed the recommendations of a major independent report which warns that the UK is “dangerously underprepared” for another energy crisis because it remains heavily reliant on gas for electricity and home heating.

The warning comes after figures show around 400,000 households in Yorkshire and Humber - around 12.5% of all households - are already in fuel poverty.

The Energy Crisis Commission, a high-level group of experts including representatives from Energy UK, CBI, Citizens Advice and National Energy Action, found that British households and businesses were hit harder than many other European countries because of high dependence on gas for heating and power generation.

Ranked against EU countries, the UK is second most dependent on gas for heating, and joint fifth most dependent on gas for electricity.

The Commission recommended that the UK should increase public investment in home energy efficiency to improve millions of cold, damp, unhealthy homes. They also suggested strengthening energy efficiency regulations for housing and accelerating the rollout of electric heat pumps to transition away from gas heating.

Many of the recommendations have been endorsed by Yorkshire businesses working in the home energy sector.

Daniel Särefjord, the UK CEO of heat pump manufacturers and installers Aira, who have a Sheffield-based training academy for heat pump installers, said: "I strongly welcome the recommendations of the Energy Crisis Commission.

“The UK is in the grip of an international gas market that it has little control over, leaving the government, households and businesses seriously exposed to the gas price volatility, which has been driving the cost-of-living crisis in the UK and leaving millions of people left with a choice between heating their homes or eating this winter.

“As a nation, we simply cannot afford to be at the mercy of a critically flawed international gas market any longer. It is costing UK taxpayers tens of billions of pounds in bailouts and subsidies.

“It is in the country’s immediate social, economic and environmental interests to get Britain off gas as soon as possible, with a transition to clean cheap electricity generation from wind and solar. This, combined with the mass adoption of heat pump technology is at the core of our future energy independence."

Andy Heald is a director at Energise Barnsley, a community energy organisation who install solar panels on the homes of people in social housing at risk of fuel poverty. Their scheme saves 30% on residents’ bills in an area where one in five struggles to pay their fuel costs. He agrees with the independent commission’s analysis.

“Creating more energy efficient homes may take some investment but it has multiple benefits,” he says. “Alongside being more energy secure, it will also take pressure off the NHS due to fewer winter admissions. Increasing the industry’s opportunities for a highly skilled workforce will also help the economy.”

However, Heald pointed out that technological innovation and policy changes will not solve the issue on its own. “The wider aspects of the cultural shift it is going to take to improve our housing stock should not be underestimated. You need to take the community along with you, not dictate to them,” he said.

Paul Leedham is managing director of Rotherham-based Matrix Energy Systems, who install heat pumps. This November they will launch the UK’s first practical training course for heat pump installation.

While he welcomes the findings of the Commission, he has invited members of government to “visit us on the ground” to see how the recommendations could be achieved.

“I fully agree that the UK needs to accelerate the transition to low-carbon heating,” Leedham says, “but the devil is always in the detail about how they do it.

“The Clean Heat Market Mechanism won’t necessarily be the answer as it can be gamed; if next year the industry installed 200,000 heat pumps and 100,000 of those were hybrid installations with a gas boiler, this isn’t the right narrative for serious decarbonisation”.

“We’ve been running our company for 16 years and have rarely needed to install a hybrid system, so why are the gas boiler manufacturers pushing for easier rules on their selection?”

Leedham says heat pumps can be used in any kind of property if designed and installed correctly.

“None of these recommendations will mean anything if we do not have a sufficiently highly skilled workforce to be able to design and install the equipment correctly,” he says, “and the training available over the past decade has been woefully inadequate”.

“We need to get past thinking a three-day PowerPoint presentation is all the engineers need to be able to do this work properly,” he says. “We have a huge number of gas engineers and plumbers already working who have nearly all the skills needed to switch to heat pumps instead. We just need to take that next step to level them up.”

“If decision-makers come down to the installation ‘coal face’ they will very quickly hear solutions from the workforce that are facing the barriers.”

“We have funding mechanisms for the ‘able to pay’ and the ‘not able to pay’ but we have nothing for the ‘able to part pay’, if we created some form of mechanism for this group we would further increase heat pump take up towards our targets.”

Tim Hess is a director at Upper Don Community Energy, a volunteer group who promote domestic energy efficiency. He said: “Our current building regulations, despite improvements in 2022, still fall short of what's needed to meet net-zero targets.

“Almost every existing property will need retrofitting, and 80% of homes will require heat pumps to reduce gas dependence, according to the UK Green Building Council. Our current progress to retrofit is moving at a snail’s pace

“At Upper Don Community Energy, we understand the challenge isn't just about reducing energy bills - it’s about making warm, efficient homes accessible to everyone, not just the wealthiest.

“Through our Community Warming project, we provide free or low-cost energy-saving measures, and offer thermal imaging surveys to all households to help target major upgrades like insulation. Our experience at a local level confirms the need for urgent action across the whole housing stock.”