Worcester City Council has agreed to support the Local Electricity Bill that is making its way through Parliament. The aim of the Bill is to establish a Right to Local Supply that would promote local renewable electricity supply by making the set-up and running costs of selling renewable electricity to local customers proportionate to the size of the supply company.
A motion supporting the Bill was agreed by members of all parties at the latest meeting of the full Council, and its Managing Director is now writing to all Worcestershire MPs and the campaign group Power for People to put its weight behind the draft legislation.
The Local Electricity Bill is already supported by a cross-party group of 270 MPs.
The agreement to back the Bill comes follows the City Council's declaration of a Climate Emergency and the launch of its own Environmental Sustainability Strategy, which aims to help Worcester become carbon-neutral by 2030.
The Council has taken a range of steps to make its own use of electricity more sustainable, including:
- Installing photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of St Martin's Gate car park to generate electricity for use in the building
- Undertaking energy efficiency and renewable energy assessments of each of its buildings, with the aim of creating a decarbonisation plan for each building
- Replacing eight of its vehicles with electric models, with more expected to follow in the near future
- Investigations into the viability of electric refuse trucks
- Acting as a key partner in a feasibility study looking at a Worcester City Heat Network, which may be able to provide a way to reduce emissions from buildings across the city.
