Community energy schemes: what’s holding local people back?
This really interesting article points to both the complexities and opportunities around a community response to rising energy costs. It tells us:
Community energy projects, where people get together to generate and save energy locally, are seen as a possible solution to creating a sustainable energy supply and reducing reliance on the ‘big six’ firms that now control 95% of the market: Scottish Power, British Gas, EON, Npower, Southern Electric and EDF.
Philip Wolfe, non-executive chair of Westmill Solar Co-operative in Oxfordshire, said it’s important to diversify the country’s energy supply: “If you are relying on one source and something goes wrong then you’re stuffed, but many sources of supply means that there isn’t a danger of the economy falling over if that one source has problems, for whatever reason.”
Setting up energy co-operatives, where members come together locally to generate their own energy, also has its challenges because local authorities and elected members can be resistant if they don’t feel involved, said Coxcoon. Oxford city council has partnered with the not-for-profit company the Low Carbon Hub, working on a range of micro-hydro and solar PV schemes throughout the county. But Jo Colwell, environmental sustainability manager at the council, believes that while community energy is a fantastic opportunity it is still “ferociously complex”.