Metro Mayor Dan Norris and a team of experts will be going door-to-door visiting Lawrence Weston shops and other small businesses. The aim is to help them save £2,000-plus from their sky-high energy bills and slash carbon emissions.
The ‘Energy Bills Blitz’ is a new drive to support local businesses who have never previously received assistance from regional government.
The initiative comes as local firms are braced for another steep increase in energy bills as the government’s support for non-household energy bills falls away, and many fixed rate deals come to an end. Alarming stats from Cornwall Insight suggest the combined impact could drive energy bills for many companies up by as much as 133%.
But help is at hand from Mayor Norris and ‘green experts’ with over 25 years’ experience who will offer practical advice, guidance and support on how to reduce energy bills. The first step is a free ‘Carbon Survey’ which will suggest helpful modifications such as changing the lighting in a shop or fitting more energy efficient equipment for which grants are being made available.
The aim is for an average shop to save a whopping £2,000 a year, every year.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “Lawrence Weston shops have faced a tough couple of years – inflation through the roof, shortages of workers and those sky-high energy bills. “But I’ve long been concerned that historically only those ‘in the know’ get support from the West of England Combined Authority. I want to change that. It’s no use just having grant schemes that are online and only known to some. So experts will be going door-to-door cold-calling on local shops to talk to people who not only have never before considered this support but didn’t have the faintest idea it existed in the first place.
This is a plan to slash energy bills for good, which is vital at a time when energy prices have gone through the roof. And it’s all the more vital if we are going to reach our very ambitious 2030 Net Zero target.”
METRO MAYOR IN LAWRENCE WESTON FOR “ENERGY BILL BLITZ”
