Agenda item

The Executive Member for Community Safety and Environment submitted a report updating Members in respect of initial schemes that Officers were exploring in relation to facilitating community energy activities within the District.

The Environment Strategy and Development Manager stated that the Community Energy Saving Initiative was a form of collective action to reduce, purchase, manage and generate energy in the community.  Members were advised that there were clear linkages between this initiative and the national carbon reduction agenda, fuel poverty and energy efficiency initiatives.

The Committee was reminded that Collective Energy Switching was a relatively new initiative in the UK.  This scheme had been set up to assist residents and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) with reducing energy bills.  The Environment Strategy and Development Manager reported that this scheme was usually promoted through a council or some other trusted independent body such as a consumer group.

Members were provided with a detailed breakdown of how the scheme would operate as well as a summary of the background of this initiative.  The main purpose was to encourage residents to group together and use their collective power to negotiate a better price for their energy.

The Environment Strategy and Development Manager reported that the Government had recently launched a Community Energy Saving Competition aimed at providing grants of up to £20,000 to encourage local project activity.  However, the grant scheme had a very short open period of just a couple of weeks and it had not been possible to submit a specific bid for East Herts.

The Committee was reminded that community energy was about working in partnership with the community and as such East Herts had already been active in becoming one of two lead local Authority members in a Hertfordshire wide Community Energy Network.  A conference and workshop was planned for the summer and this would be coordinated by the Herts Sustainability Forum and led by East Herts Council.  Further update reports including details of other possible initiatives would be presented to the Committee at future meetings.

Councillor E Buckmaster commented on whether there was a critical mass that needed to be achieved to make the tariff switching project worthwhile.  Members were advised that the framework was owned by the Local Government Association but the procurement service was run by the North East Procurement Organisation and utilised a switching service operated by a company called iChoosr.

The Chairman commented on how the collective energy proposals could be promoted in East Herts.  The Environment Strategy and Development Manager referred to the usual free publicity such as the Link publication and Members raising awareness via their contacts with local community groups.

Councillor Buckmaster commented that it was down to Members to utilise their contacts with residents in their respective District wards.  Councillor C Woodward stressed the importance of not overlooking the e-mail, Twitter and Facebook links the Authority had with the community as these were the people most likely to use the internet when switching energy providers.

Councillor P Ballam queried whether residents who used pre–payment meters would be able to use iChoosr and the Collective Energy Switching scheme.  The Environment Strategy and Development Manager confirmed that such residents could use the scheme so long as they were not in debt to their current provider.

The Committee received the report.

RESOLVED – that (A) the report be received; and

(B)   theEnvironment Strategy and Development Manager submit an update report to the Committee on 23 February 2016.