The privatisation of electricity supply in the 1990s resulted in the 12 regional English electricity boards being turned into 12 separate companies. A number of mergers have gradually given rise to the domination of the market by six incumbent suppliers, most of which aren’t owned by UK groups.
“The result of electricity privatisation was to take power away from the people”, author of Private Island, James Meek so aptly puts it. “The fact that individual households and small businesses can choose to switch from the confusing tariff of one oligopolistic supplier to another doesn’t protect them from sharp, unpredictable swings in prices,” he writes.
In a recent paper on community energy, researcher at Sheffield Hallam University Will Eadson states that: “The pressures caused by a need to radically reduce carbon emissions and ensure a secure energy supply have prompted moves to re-scale the production and distribution of energy while also opening up the energy system to new actors and institutions.”
Independent energy company, Ovo Energy, recently embarked upon a joint venture with Plymouth County Council to form a community energy company. Ovo believes as many as 500 partnerships can be formed across the country by 2020, serving up to a million customers.
Ovo says it wants to “democratise the energy market by initiating a seismic power shift” within the industry “away from energy companies and back to the customers they serve”. Chief executive Stephen Fitzpatrick believes the industry will “look very different in a few years’ time as community-led partnerships spring up to challenge the incumbents”.
Here are five community energy initiatives, including Plymouth Energy, which are battling the big six and breaking the energy supply mould.
Bristol Energy
The idea for Bristol Energy, the UK’s first municipal energy firm, was originally proposed in September 2010. In 2012, Bristol City Council successfully applied to the European Investment Bank (EIB) for funding to undertake feasibility studies into the project.
The council plans to allocate £1.6 million in cashflow support to enable the new energy company to start trading this summer. EIB will provide half (around £70 million) of the funding, with the rest coming from private sector investment.
The council itself will be one of the customers of Bristol Energy, expected to provide “far in excess” of the 2.5MW limit above which suppliers must be to be fully licensed.
The council’s energy service director Bill Edrich says: “Customers would be guaranteed competitive, fair and simple energy tariffs with any profits reinvested back into local communities. It would also provide low carbon electricity, offering customers cleaner, greener energy with a focus on sourcing power from local places to provide to local people.
“Most importantly Bristol Energy would look at the bigger picture and deliver initiatives which would help people to use less energy, making people’s homes cheaper to heat and more energy efficient.”
Repowering London
Repowering London is a non-profit organisation specialising in facilitating the co-production of community-owned renewable energy projects across south London.
The group works with installers and local community groups to develop renewable energy projects. The group also encourages local people to invest in community solar projects, in which profits earned from the sale of surplus electricity to the national grid will be used to directly benefit the local community, and generate an annual return for investors.
A percentage of the profit also goes to energy efficiency education to help tackle fuel poverty. The funds are used to help local people understand the changes they can make to reduce their energy bills and switching to different energy tariffs that match their energy usage.
Repowering has established three solar energy cooperatives in Brixton. Brixton Energy Solar 1 involved the installation of a 37.24kWp solar power station on the roof of Elmore House on Loughborough Estate, and was the UK’s first inner-city, co-operatively owned renewable energy project on a social housing estate.
Plymouth Energy Community
Plymouth Energy Community is a Community Benefit Society run “by residents, for residents”. It was set up in 2013 as an independent organisation with support from Plymouth City Council, with the aim of “giving people of Plymouth the power to transform how they buy, use and generate power in the city”.
The community collaboration focuses on three main goals: reducing energy bills; improving energy efficiency and generating green energy supply in the city.
Plymouth Energy Community chief executive Alistair Macpherson says the energy revolution is well underway in Plymouth; our members’ co-operative has already launched services related to fuel debt, energy switching, home insulation and locally owned renewables. Bespoke tariffs, specifically designed to meet our community’s needs, are logically the next step.”
He adds: “We are confident that we could potentially save Plymouth residents well in excess of £1 million per year.”
Meadows Ozone Energy Services (MOZES)
MOZES was formally constituted in 2009 in the Meadows, an underpriviledged part of Nottingham. The area is particularly vulnerable to increased fuel costs because of the high level of fuel poverty and the aim of the initiative was to set up projects to produce green electricity locally and make homes more energy efficient.
Through the MOZES initiative, the Meadows community aims to: use heating and electricity more effectively; produce its own electricity; and use less gas, petrol or oil.
MOZES is currently exploring the viability of a wind turbine owned by the local community from which, once any loan is paid off, they will earn a good return for minimal investment.
Community Energy Scotland
Established in 2007, Community Energy Scotland is a registered charity which provides local communities with assistance on green energy development and energy conservation.
With an extensive portfolio of community energy projects under its belt, the group aims to: help communities become stronger, more self-reliant and resilient by generating their own energy and using it efficiently; offer education, finance and practical help; and provide a voice for communities who want a more secure and sustainable energy future in Scotland.
The charity says: “We provide detailed, independent and ongoing support for all aspects of community energy project development, from micro to megawatt scale; we help broadcast the specific difficulties faced by the community sector; and by bringing communities and policy makers together, we try to find new ways forward.”