Energy UK has joined Electrifying our Future, the campaign run by the Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA), as a strategic partner1. The ECA lists the addition on its Safe Transition to Net Zero pages, where it also records that BEAMA joined the same campaign as a strategic partner1. No further detail on the terms of the partnership, its duration or its funding has been reported1.
The campaign sits within the ECA's wider work on electrification, which it frames around safety and competence. The association states that it "has launched its Safe Energy Transition Charter, calling for faster clean electrification across heat, transport and power"1. Its published positions include rebalanced electricity taxation, incentives based on carbon reduction rather than a named technology, and consistent safety and competence standards1. On the cost of power, the ECA states that "Electricity is taxed four times more than gas"1.
The ECA's recent activity on the same theme includes a call, made with over 50 organisations, for the government to reduce electricity levies1. It has also warned that unsafe "plug-in solar" products must not undermine electrical safety, and that missing electrotechnical expertise, weak apprenticeship support and no installer representation threaten delivery of the Warm Homes Plan1. In July 2025 the ECA and NFRC published a Solar Road Map report setting out steps to deliver 45 to 47 GW of solar by 20301.
The ECA's stated milestones for the transition are set out below.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2030 | Clean electricity generation and grid capacity meets increased demand |
| 2035 | UK to end sale of new petrol and diesel cars |
| 2050 | UK to become net zero |
Source: ECA1
"The UK's journey to net zero will be defined by its ability to electrify."
Why it matters for households
Electrification policy reaches households through the standards applied to the equipment installed in their homes and to the people who install it. The ECA's position is that qualified and competent electricians are what guarantee interrelated technologies are installed and maintained safely, and that without them performance and safety are reduced1. For a household weighing up heat pumps, solar panels, battery storage or an electric vehicle charge point, that argument bears on who carries out the work and to what standard.
The ECA also links the running cost of a home to the tax treatment of the fuel it uses. It states that electricity is taxed four times more than gas, and attributes the inflated price of electricity to what it calls an outdated energy levy model1. For a home that has shifted its heating, hot water and transport onto electricity, the balance between gas and electricity levies is the difference between the running costs of the two fuels.
New build standards are a further route by which these questions reach households. The ECA welcomed the Future Homes and Buildings Standards for driving lower-carbon, energy-efficient homes, while warning that unsafe plug-in solar products must not undermine electrical safety1. The Future Homes Standard sets the direction for homes built under it, and the carbon reduction it is expected to deliver is a separate question from the safety of the products fitted into them.
What happens next
The ECA's published timeline records 2030 for clean electricity generation and grid capacity to meet increased demand, 2035 for the end of sales of new petrol and diesel cars, and 2050 for the UK to become net zero1. The UK is legally bound to be a net zero emitter by 20501. No date has been reported for the next stage of Energy UK's involvement in the campaign1.
Sources1 cited
- A Safe Transition to Net Zero, eca.co.uk