Community Energy

I believe distributed generation may have a role to play in a smarter, more efficient energy system and the Government should ensure small scale low-carbon technologies have a level playing field as the market for smarter services evolves.
 
That is why I support the Local Electricity Bill sponsored by Jeremy Lefroy MP which, if made law, would create a 'right to local supply' for communities, allowing them to sell energy generated by local structures to local people and thus benefit from the money currently received by larger utilities.
 
Community energy is a key part of clean growth, showing what can happen when groups of people come together to de-carbonise energy in local areas, while also investing in these places to bring other economic, or social, benefits. That is why I the welcome the introduction of the Local Energy Programme, which supports local organisations, community groups and councils to develop their own energy strategies and deliver their own energy programmes. 
 
However, after publishing a call for evidence on the role small-scale low-carbon generation last year, Ministers are aware that routes to market for exported electricity are currently limited and have an emphasis on larger capacity generators. Based on this evidence, the Government is exploring possible arrangements for the small-scale low-carbon generation sector after the closure of the Feed-in Tariff scheme.
 
To that end, the Government is consulting on introducing a mandatory supplier-led route to market, the Smart Export Guarantee. This new scheme could create a whole new market, encouraging suppliers to competitively bid for this electricity, giving exporters the best market price while providing the local grid with more clean, green energy, unlocking greater choice and control for solar households over buying and selling their electricity. This could also reduce strain on energy networks with a more decentralised and smarter local network delivering resilience much more cost effectively.