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British Gas Creates 1,000 Jobs as Huhne Boosts U.K. Insulation
2010-11-02 00:01:00.3 GMT
By Alex Morales
Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Centrica Plc's British Gas unit said
it created 1,000 new jobs as U.K. Energy, and Climate Change
Secretary Chris Huhne prepared a draft law to improve the
nation's energy efficiency by insulating all homes.
Huhne plans to put the legislation, dubbed the Green Deal,
before Parliament next month, his department said today in an e-
mailed statement. The measures will enable people to insulate
their homes, repaying the installation costs through their
energy bills, which may still be cheaper due to the improved
energy efficiency of the buildings, the department said.
Huhne aims for the Green Deal to help the U.K. meet its
goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 1990
levels in 2020. The measures may create 250,000 jobs if all 26
million homes in the country take up the insulation costs,
according to his department.
"At a time of increasing gas prices, energy efficiency is
a no-brainer," Huhne said in the statement. "It's also a
massive economic and job opportunity which could help Britain's
economy turn the corner."
Huhne said 100,000 new jobs could be created over the next
five years. British Gas said in the government statement that
1,000 of 3,700 new so-called "green-collar" jobs announced in
September have already been filled. Those roles include home
insulation, customer advisers, renewable generation and smart
metering.
For Related News and Information:
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable Energy Stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
--Editors: Reed Landberg, Mike Anderson
To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in London at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net.
