Norwich City Council is to create a new energy supplier after giving the green light to a white label agreement with Engie Power.
The company, which is yet to be named, was approved at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (14 November) and will be operational by spring next year.
In a report released ahead of the meeting, the council said it is aiming to attract and retain more than 1,500 customers per year for the first three years of the programme, whilst offering 100 per cent renewable tariffs.
The three core tariffs will be:
- Eco Value
- Eco Value Pre-pay
- Eco Community
Customers signing up the Eco Community tariff will donate 31 days of energy each year to a fuel poor home, adding £30 to their annual bill.
White label arrangements allow energy companies to sell tariffs provided by other suppliers under their own branding.
A number of other councils have set up energy companies on this basis, including Fairerpower For All (Cheshire East Council), White Rose Energy (Leeds City Council) Ram Energy (Derby City Council) and Leccy (Liverpool City Council).
In June, Engie announced it had signed its first ever white label contract with a local authority in the UK, partnering with Cheshire West and Chester Council to create Qwest Energy.
Some endeavours have not been as successful, including Portsmouth City Council’s Victory Energy scheme.
The supplier was scrapped before becoming operational at a cost of at least £2.5 million.
The council said the company would have needed “many millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money” to get it up and running and was not predicted to pay it back for up to eight years.