Councils to be allowed to sell renewable electricity

It's ridiculous that the 1976 Local Government Act prevents councils from selling electricity from local wind turbines, or from anaerobic digestion

 
Chris Huhne, Energy Secretary

In his speech at the Local Government Association (LGA) annual conference in Bournemouth this afternoon, the minister is set to outline plans to repeal the 1976 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act – which prevents councils from selling renewable electricity produced independent of heat to the National Grid.

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“I want to see this repealed and by the end of the year I hope local authorities will be able to sell electricity from renewables – generating revenue to help local services and keep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

Councils were prevented from benefitting from the sale of electricity following an amendment to the 1976 legislation introduced by the Electricity Act 1989, which eschewed the privatisation of the electricity sector.

“Silver bullet”

The LGA welcomed the move and said that it could make investment in energy-from-waste and renewable energy facilities, such as anaerobic digestion (AD), a more attractive prospect for local authorities.

However, Clive Harris, waste policy officer at the LGA, warned that some councils may still be hesitant to invest in technologies such as AD.

He told letsrecycle.com: “It certainly could make investment more attractive, I think that is quite right, but we have got to offset that against the capital costs for setting up these plants which could be pretty high and, as with most of these things, the devil will be in the details.”

Mr Huhne's announcement comes the day after climate change minister Greg Barker and environment minister Lord Henley met with a cross-section of industries to discuss a means of boosting the uptake of AD (see letsrecycle.com story).