A Cumbrian MP has again shown his support for a new bill in Parliament which would allow electricity to be sold locally.
Furness MP Simon Fell was speaking as part of a Westminster Hall Debate which he joined via video link.
The proposed new law, known as the Local Electricity Bill, was supported by more than 180 MPs. If made law, it would create a new ‘Right to Local Supply’ of energy that would empower communities to sell locally generated electricity directly to local households and businesses.
As part of his speech today, Mr Fell referred to a community hydroelectric scheme in Broughton-in-Furness, which would be able to flourish under the Local Electricity Bill.
Simon said: “There is a project in Broughton-in-Furness, which aims to bring together local residents in a co-operative to buy renewable electricity from the hydro plant at Logan Gill, allowing them to benefit from cleaner, cheaper energy.
“Potentially 400 customers could benefit from this, saving almost 20 per cent off their energy bills.
“The model is great and I’d like to praise local residents (including Jennifer Sanderson and Rob Dunphy), Cumbria Action for Sustainability, and Ellergreen Hydro for working together to deliver it.”
Currently customers can only purchase electricity from nationally licensed utilities. The Bill’s supporters say this means money people use to pay their energy bills is not helping to rebuild local economies and local clean energy infrastructure.
Drawing on comparisons with the UK’s European neighbours such as Germany, the MP said that for projects like this to succeed, a degree of goodwill is required from larger national companies.
“For this project to succeed it is reliant on the benevolence of Octopus Energy – a nationally licensed and huge utility company,” said Simon.
“By enabling a Right to Local Supply, that ceases to be a problem. Reforming the market rules so that local and regional-sized renewable energy generators could sell their electricity directly to local customers would mean that my constituents in Broughton would no longer be reliant on having to choose from a large national one only.”
Commenting after the debate, the MP for Barrow and Furness, said: “The Local Electricity Bill will empower and enable new community energy companies in Furness to sell energy that they generate directly to local people which will help strengthen local economies.
“This is urgently needed given the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bill will also help accelerate our transition to clean energy, which is critical in avoiding the potential economic and ecological devastation of climate change. I will do all I can to ensure it becomes law.”
