More councils switch on to discounted energy scheme
Author: Dominic Browne and Thomas Bridge, The MJ |
Local government is poised to establish its biggest collective energy-switching venture, with up to 26 councils ? including the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) ? in talks to join Oldham MBC’s initiative.
The GMCA councils ? which include Manchester City Council, Salford MBC and Wigan MBC ? will decide on membership of Oldham’s scheme at its next group meeting, scheduled for 26 October.
The scheme is open to households anywhere in the UK, but the support of the GMCA would give the project, which aims to save residents up to 150 a year on energy bills, a local constituency of 1.2 million households.
Oldham’s leader, Jim McMahon, said an agreement across Greater Manchester would ‘hopefully be made next month’, and added that another 17 councils had expressed an interest in joining the scheme.
The MJ can also reveal that local authority energy schemes have secured cross-party support in Parliament, following this magazine’s own ‘Power to the people’ campaign.
Liberal Democrat energy secretary, Ed Davey, and Conservative communities secretary, Eric Pickles, have already backed the campaign ? and now they have been joined by shadow energy secretary, Caroline Flint.
Labour has also launched its own collective switching campaign, known as ‘Switch together’.
Ms Flint told The MJ: ‘Too many people pay over the odds for their energy because buying gas and electricity is too complicated.
‘We are reaching out to people who pay too much, but alone, can’t change that. Together we can make a difference.’
As public bodies, councils could also soon have tougher energy-efficiency rules imposed on them, after European ministers this week backed the new EU Energy Efficiency Directive.