Good news from the Local Electricity Bill
Green Christian is campaigning for two bills to be adopted in Parliament – the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill, and this one, the Local Electricity Bill.
We have been supporters of this proposed bill to enable community-run renewables for a while now and it’s great to hear that things are moving!
There’s quite a lot to read here – if you aren’t interested in the intricacies of government, do simply watch the videos! It’s so good to see a bishop supporting this bill!
The background to this is that our strategy now is to secure an amendment to the Government’s Energy Bill, now proceeding through Parliament, to include the mechanism we are calling for that would enable more community renewable energy generation.
Last month saw one of our leading supportive MPs, Mick Whitley, trigger a Parliamentary Westminster Hall debate on the Government’s Energy Security Strategy. He and other MPs used the debate to call on the Government to ensure that what we are calling for is included in the Energy Bill. Here is a 4 minute highlights video of the debate:
Then, on Tuesday, the Energy Bill had its Second Reading in the House of Lords. (Unexpectedly the Bill has started in the Lords, rather than the Commons, which is unusual but not unheard of.) This was the Bill’s first major debate stage and we were able to orchestrate many Peers (Lords, Baronesses and a Bishop) from a cross-party basis to speak and call on the Government to include a mechanism to enable community energy generation, like that in our Local Electricity Bill. It will have been clear to the Government that this was a co-ordinated campaign ask and it shows just how remarkably effective the mass grass-roots engagement methods we use are proving to be. Here is a 5 minute highlights video of the debate:
Ongoing constituency mobilisation work continues, as every supportive person and community group is another constituency lobbying voice that will help ensure MPs back what we’re calling for in the coming months. Alongside this, Power for People are working with energy system experts including Nigel Cornwall (formerly a senior Whitehall energy official) and Dr Jeff Hardy (formerly a senior Ofgem official) on the drafting of the amendment they plan to have Parliamentarians make to the Energy Bill.
Years of campaigning work is now culminating and the crunch is coming. There is still much work to do, but with 310 MPs backing what we are calling for our chances are good.
We will keep you updated and let you know when you can help with the call for Government support when the Energy Bill comes to the Commons.
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Comments on "Good news from the Local Electricity Bill"
mike plunkett:
Climate change will increasingly interrupt all kinds of supply chains. localities must increase their self reliance
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