Greg Barker sets out Big Society vision for Small Energy (press release)

New community energy website launched
Climate Change Minister Greg Barker today urged communities to grab the new opportunities to become more energy self sufficient and join the green energy revolution.

In a keynote speech to the Combined Heat and Power Association annual conference, Greg Barker described communities installing their own low carbon energy, like combined heat and power plants, wind and water turbines or district heating networks, as epitomising the vision of the Big Society.

At the conference, he launched a brand new website called Community Energy Online to help communities find out more about how to generate their own energy.

Greg Barker said: “Community energy is a perfect expression of the transformative power of the Big Society. With the right combination of incentives and freedoms, community groups, businesses and organisations can get together to build a cleaner, greener future.

“They can generate their own heat and electricity, and their own profits, and as a by-product, help the UK to save energy and help to cut carbon emissions.”

DECC’s Community Energy Online website has been developed together with community networks, the Local Government Group and industry bodies like the CHPA. It is designed to give communities access to information from different independent sources on generating low carbon heat and power. The website launched today will link together partner websites to create a one stop shop for communities interested in generating energy on a community scale.

DECC has already acted to make community energy more attractive by:
overturning the ban on local councils selling electricity back to the national grid, opening up new sources of income including the full benefit of the feed in tariff; and providing a clear commitment to the funding of feed in tariffs and £860m for the Renewable Heat Incentive in the recent Spending Review.

To access Community Energy Online, visit: http://ceo.decc.gov.ukDECC will shortly be formally consulting on its Microgeneration Strategy and publishing further detail on the Renewable Heat Incentive.

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