RT Hon Ed Miliband MP Launches SMARTER Energy Project

The Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change is visiting Manchester (Friday 26 February) to launch Manchester’s SMARTER project in the Northern Quarter.

The Project will pave the way for businesses and residential properties to save money and reduce their carbon footprint and will establish the country’s first smart energy business district.

Commenting on the SMARTER project the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP said:

"Tackling climate change and reducing the amount of energy we consume starts in our homes and at our workplaces. It is very important that we find new ways of delivering energy savings for businesses and individuals and Greater Manchester is leading the way as the UK’s Low Carbon Economic Area for the built environment.

“Manchester’s pioneering SMARTER project will empower those in the district to more easily identify how they could use their energy more efficiently, lower their bills, and compare their energy use with others. The project will also attract businesses who want to show off their green credentials in a market where carbon footprint is an increasing consideration.”

Manchester’s City Council’s Executive Member for Environment, Cllr Richard Cowell said:

“We want to make a real difference by creating the country’s first smarter energy district. Putting businesses in better control of their energy bills has got to be a good thing in these times and if it can lead to lowering the city’s carbon footprint then all the better. I hope that we’ll see businesses flock to this project.”

The project, which is being jointly funded by Manchester City Council’s Carbon Innovation Fund and the Northwest Regional Development Agency’s (NWDA) Carbon Challenge Fund, is being delivered by the Commission for the New Economy working in partnership with the Greater Manchester Environment Commission.

Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive, Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) said:

“England’s Northwest has long been a pioneer for innovation, forward thinking attitudes and the willingness to develop and progress. Projects selected for the Carbon Challenge Fund represent a key part of the Agency’s commitment to creating a low carbon economy in England’s Northwest – improving efficiency, reducing costs and safeguarding jobs.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For further information or to attend please contact:

Liz Reuben Head of Communications 0161 237 4179, 07525 392 369.

• Greater Manchester was named as the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area for the built environment in December 2009. Over the next five years Greater Manchester aims to deliver an additional £650 million into the economy, support 34,000 jobs as well as save six million tonnes of carbon.

• Manchester’s Commission for the New Economy has been established to co-ordinate strategically the work in the field of economic development, employment and skills in the area of the ten AGMA Local Authorities (the Association for Greater Manchester Authorities, made up of the local authorities of Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan).

• For information on the work of New Economy please visit: www.neweconomymanchester.com

• The Commission for the New Economy is one of seven such commissions created as part of the new governance arrangements for Greater Manchester recently ratified by its ten component authorities. Its operations are overseen by a private sector-majority board chaired by Mike Blackburn of BT, which includes most of the AGMA authority leaders. The others are health, public protection, planning and housing, transport, environment and improvement and efficiency.

• The NWDA’s Carbon Challenge Fund is a key part of the Northwest Climate Change Action Plan, which sets out the region’s mission to become the leader on climate change by 2020, and is being delivered by the Northwest Climate Change Partnership

• The Carbon Challenge Funds support the deployment of low carbon technologies by minimising the risk of investment in new and innovative technologies, processes and approaches by signifying and monitoring their effectiveness, providing an incentive for adoption and demonstrating leadership.

• Manchester City Council’s Carbon Innovation Fund was set up to develop and deliver innovative projects that save carbon or inspire others to act, with the aim of resulting in long-term and wide-scale positive change in the city.