Policy News

Wednesday 07 July 2010

Energy secretary Chris Huhne intends to repeal the ban on councils from being able to sell renewable electricity back to the National Grid

Energy secretary Chris Huhne is today (July 7) set to announce plans to overturn a "ridiculous" ban on local authorities from selling renewable electricity to the National Grid in a move which could encourage more councils to develop renewable energy schemes.

Speaking at the Local Government Association (LGA) annual conference in Bournemouth, Mr Huhne will unveil proposals to overrule the 1976 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, which was amended by the Energy Act 1989.

Under the amendments, councils were prevented from selling renewable electricity produced independently of heat following the privatisation of the electricity sector.

Mr Huhne, who is also preparing to launch a carbon footprint breakdown of English local councils during his speech, intends to repeal the legislation by "the end of the year".

Speaking ahead of the conference, he said: "It's ridiculous that the 1976 Local Government Act prevents councils from selling electricity from local wind turbines or from anaerobic digestion.

"I want to see this repealed and by the end of the year I hope local authorities will be able to sell electricity from renewables - generating revenue to help local services and to keep Council Tax down. Local communities can truly benefit from the low-carbon transition."

The move to repeal the restrictions is expected to be carried out through secondary legislation by DECC in respect of England and Scotland and Welsh ministers in Wales.

Consultation

Between March and June of this year, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) consulted on plans to repeal the legislation.

Documents accompanying the DECC/WAG consultation stated: "Allowing local authorities to sell electricity generated by them from renewable sources would encourage the development of local renewable electricity projects by those local authorities that are well-placed to undertake such projects either on their own or in partnerships."

Responding to the consultation in June 2010, the Renewable Energy Association welcomed the impact which repealing the legislation could potentially have, particularly in relation to planning (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story).

And, commenting after today's announcement, responding to the announcement, Gaynor Hartnell, chief executive of REA, said: "This move will allow councils to take a central role in greening the nation. Government needs to remove barriers across the board, so that councils, the public sector and businesses are encouraged to install renewables.

"Unfortunately the Carbon Reduction Commitment remains a barrier to onsite renewables, including large local authorities. We'd like to see the new Government bring down this barrier too."

Carbon footprint

Mr Huhne's announcement coincided with the publication of carbon footprint information for every local authority in England. This is the first time information on emissions from powering and heating of buildings, as well as emissions from council vehicles, has been published.

Commenting on the figures, Mr Huhne said: "Wasting energy means that money that could be spent on local services is also being wasted. These new statistics should put energy wastage and energy efficiency at the forefront of the minds of councillors and council officials."

The data, which charts emissions for 2008/09, shows that East Cambridgeshire district council (574 tonnes of CO2) was the local authority with the lowest emissions, while Birmingham city council (177,360 tonnes of CO2) was found to the highest.