Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council have revealed plans to create a not-for-profit energy scheme to help combat fuel poverty and encourage poorer residents onto cheaper tariffs.
The partnership has been in the works since December 2015 when the councils agreed to put out a joint tender for a suitable energy supplier.
They are due to sign a memorandum of understanding agreeing to joint governance of the scheme and the appointment of a supplier, which has not yet been named.
“This energy supply partnership scheme is designed to help people who are least able to meet their energy bills and are facing fuel poverty as a result,” said Leicester assistant city mayor for energy and sustainability Adam Clarke.
“We’ve been working with the county council to select a supplier, based on the levels of customer service, their reliability and the ease of dealing with them, as well as ensuring they can provide cheaper energy tariffs.”
“In addition to the standard tariff there will also be a renewable energy tariff, in recognition of both councils’ commitment to the climate change agenda,” he added.
In November last year, Liverpool City Council announced plans to form a community energy company offering the “white labelled” tariffs of Robin Hood Energy, the municipal energy company set up by Nottingham City Council.