The new Energy Company Obligation (ECO) takes effect from January 2013 and has been structured to target hard to treat homes and vulnerable communities. Valued at over £1 billion per annum ECO provides registered housing providers with an opportunity to carry out major insulation programmes to traditionally hard to treat homes – those with solid walls and HTT cavities – at very little capital investment cost. Most solid wall programmes can be fully or almost fully-funded with funding also available for district heating schemes. Further funding is available for homes in areas of multiple deprivation and in addition vulnerable private households qualify for funding for insulation and heating system replacements - which enables RPs to offer similar measures to private leaseholders in their communities. CERT and CESP funding programmes have now been replaced with ECO which provides RPs with a new funding stream to make their housing stock more energy efficient and help get residents out of fuel poverty (currently 23% of all UK households and in fuel poverty). Climate Energy is the UK’s leading independent provider of energy and carbon reduction services and has delivered programmes with over 100 local authorities and registered providers.