Local Electricity Bill
The Local Electricity Bill is a Private Member’s Bill currently making its way through Parliament. Its aim is to make it easier for local energy generators to become suppliers with the right to sell their electricity directly to local customers. This would have a hugely positive impact on community energy, which is why we’ve written to our MP Jacob Rees Mogg to ask him to support the Bill as it heads towards its second reading on July 10th. The text of our letter is below. We’ll post any response we get!
Dear Mr Rees-Mogg
Local Electricity Bill – House of Commons Second Reading, Friday 10 July 2020.
As we enter the second week of Community Energy Fortnight, Keynsham Community Energy urges you to join your many colleagues of all parties in supporting the Local Electricity Bill at its second reading in the House of Commons on Friday 10th July.
As you may know, the Bill would pave the way for local energy generators to become suppliers with the right to sell their electricity directly to local customers. The Bill requires OFGEM to address a current situation where local suppliers are faced with systemic obstruction, unwarranted complexity and disproportionate costs.
Community Energy Fortnight is a celebration of the inspiring communities who are actively reducing carbon emissions with renewable energy and efficiency technologies, whilst helping people in their communities at the same time. Community energy initiatives are one of our great success stories in Bath and North East Somerset, both in carbon reduction and economic terms. Keynsham Community Energy is working with B&NES to develop our own community-owned renewable energy projects. If the Local Electricity Bill was passed into law, it would help us and other community energy groups raise local funds for our projects, add resilience to the local economy and foster community enterprise and engagement.
Unleashing the potential of community energy would be good for your constituents and help the United Kingdom as a whole address our future carbon obligations, as well as provide a much-needed economic stimulus in these difficult times.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Penny,
Chair, Keynsham Community Energy.