The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) was introduced in January 2013 as a means of funding measures to reduce energy consumption, particularly for poorer households.

Energy supply companies are required to subsidise the installation of insulation, and in some cases heating, for poor families, as well paying for expensive measures such as solid wall insulation.

The ECO was intended to run until the end of March 2015 and, in tandem with the Green Deal (loans for energy saving measures paid back via energy bills), its objective was to help the UK meet its carbon emission reduction targets.

Following a consultation the Government has decided to make certain changes to the ECO. The Carbon Emissions Reduction Obligation will be decreased but will include more eligible measures; more households in poverty will be eligible; and the assessment of eligibility for rural areas will be simplified. The ECO will also be extended to March 2017 with new targets imposed, and there will be several other changes including the addition of a new measure – a ‘qualifying electric storage heater’.

For more details please visit the www.gov.uk website.