local power generation

I love this story of local authorities returning to their roots. We could do much more of this in the local government sector if we were prepared to get the bit between our teeth. It tells us:

As fuel prices rocket and climate change sets in, many local areas are taking steps towards energy self-sufficiency. Councils are hoping to reclaim the glory days of the 1870s, when the likes of Joseph Chamberlain, mayor of Birmingham, revived his local economy through the municipalisation of local energy and water.

The original local energy borough, Woking, began decentralising its energy supply back in 1999. It set up an energy services company and now has a number of local power stations providing heat, electricity and cooling, which it sells to commercial and council buildings in the town centre. The profits are used to fund the council’s sustainability plans.

It was the first local authority to combine solar technology with combined heat and power systems and in doing so, made a local sheltered housing complex, Brockhill, 100% renewable in energy. The programme has helped the borough reduce its carbon emissions dramatically and it now has no council residents living in fuel poverty