Councils allowed to sell electricity

23 August 2010

The Government's announcement means councils can now benefit in full from Feed-in Tariffs (FITs).

Friends of the Earth successfully led the campaign for FITs. The FIT pays residents, businesses, organisations, communities and public bodies like councils a guaranteed income for each unit of green electricity they produce.

And most recipients are also rewarded for any surplus power that they sold back to the grid.

But not councils. Thanks to arcane rules dating back to the energy sector privatisation in the 1980s, local authorities were prevented from selling electricity.

This meant they couldn't benefit from the FIT in full - making it less likely they'd surge ahead with producing their own low-carbon energy.

Following pressure from Friends of the Earth, the Government has now relaxed the rules, and from 18 August 2010 councils can claim the full FIT.

That means councils can now generate cash as they generate power - money that can go to other win-win green schemes like making homes energy efficient, which will slash energy bills, tackling fuel poverty and create green jobs.

Local Carbon Budgets

Our Get Serious About CO2 campaign is calling for local carbon budgets for all councils.

Local carbon budgets would mean that all local authorities have the support to lead effective carbon dioxide reduction strategies across their local area.

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