First Ever Oil Pay-As-You-Go System Tests In Northern Ireland

An innovative pilot scheme to help homeowners  budget for oil fills is being tested in Northern Ireland.

The never seen before  technology – developed by local  firms Kingspan Environmental  and Carillion Energy Services –  will be installed on 20 oil tanks in  homes in the Dungannon,  Camlough and Newcastle area  for a period of three months.  Social Development Minister  Nelson McCausland paid a visit to  the home of Tracey Doherty from  Dungannon, where the  technology is being tested.  Speaking during the visit, the  Minister said: “Fuel choice in  Northern Ireland has undoubtedly  been a key factor in the fight  against fuel poverty. Almost 70%  of us rely on oil, in comparison to  around 4% in England, the  spiralling cost of oil has had a  significant impact on many of us.  “For those limited in their choice  of fuel, this technology has the  potential to offer a means to  budget for spend on oil and a  chance to avoid the high costs of  emergency drums. Pay as you go  systems for gas and electricity  have been around for some time  and it is very exciting that the  world’s first pay as you go oil  metering system has been  produced here and will be piloted  in Northern Ireland.  “I am very keen to see the results  of this pilot and if successful, will  be looking at the possibilities for  incorporating this kind of  innovation into future energy  efficiency schemes.  “I’m delighted that Tracey has  also recently had double glazing  installed, part of an ongoing  Executive initiative to double  glaze all Housing Executive  properties by 2015. This  combination will hopefully  help Tracey to realise a  tangible change in her  home’s energy efficiency.”  Jillian Ferris, Client and  Stakeholder Director at  Carillion Energy Services,  said: “Carillion knows from  working with nearly 50,000  homes locally just how  difficult it is for oil users to  buy the fuel they need,  when they need it. We are  used to paying for electricity  and mobile phones on a pay  as you go basis, so why not  for home heating oil?”  She continued: “Carillion  decided to team up with  Kingspan Environmental to  find a pay as you go method  that works for people in fuel  poverty as well as for those  householders who want more  control over their energy usage.  “Some of the people involved in  the pilot are already telling us how  the Home Display Unit is helping  them to see what they are  spending, to control how they use  their heating and estimate their  future need.  “The homes involved have been  chosen so the technology can be  tested by a range of people to  ensure that our system meets the  needs of all householders.”  The Department for Social  Development will review the pilot  results following a report from  Carillion, including research on  the views of the participants by  the Northern Ireland Housing  Executive research team. If  successful, a Pay As You Go option  for oil could be incorporated into  future energy efficiency schemes  delivered by the Department.  Local company Kingspan  Environmental are the developers  of the oil management technology  and are delighted Northern  Ireland will be used for the worldfirst  trial. Charles Burns, Kingspan  Environmental Commercial  Director, said: “We are delighted  that we can road test our Fuelserv  solution in our own back yard and  that people in Northern Ireland  could be the first in the world to  see the benefits.  “Buying the oil is a very simple  process: you buy however much  you want to use and FuelServ  then releases this amount from  your tank. All this is monitored by  a small wall mounted unit inside  your house, which will allow you  to keep track how much you’ve  spent and how much you’ve  used. For the householder’s  peace of mind, there are also a  number of anti-theft alerts and  alarms built into FuelServ, that we  will also be testing.”