"Local Energy Revolution" in the UK?

March 1st, 2010 by Zachary Shahan

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Ed Miliband, energy and climate change secretary in the UK, is outlining plans this week to start a “local energy revolution” in the UK.

This system would make it easier for local councils to generate electricity and sell it to the grid. It allows them to individually or jointly form renewable energy companies

This builds on a coming and much-anticipated feed-in tariff incentive scheme for the country.

“Under the plan, a dedicated support service would also be formed to help councils, co-operatives, social enterprises and community groups to invest in local renewable energy schemes,” James Murray of BusinessGreen reports.

“It’s a great idea – it takes us back to the days of Joseph Chamberlain’s municipal society,” Sir Jeremy Beecham, chairman of the Local Government Association Labour Group, told The Guardian. “Councils own a lot of buildings including schools – and have to bring down emissions… One way is to let them have the power, like local communities now have, to make energy and if they have any left over, they feed it back to the grid.”

A formal announcement about this scheme is expected early this week.

Another great step forward for more localized energy!

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Image Credit: telex4 via flickr under a CC license

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Tags: Ed Miliband, Energy, local councils, London, Miliband, UK

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.