Campaigners welcome Angus MacNeil's support for new energy initiative

'˜Power for People', an organisation campaigning for more local, clean energy, has welcomed the support of Western Isles MP, Angus MacNeil, for a Bill introduced in Parliament that, if made law, would allow communities to sell locally generated energy to local people.

Currently, if a community owns a local energy structure, such as a field of solar panels or a wind turbine, they are not able to sell the energy it generates to local people.

The Local Electricity Bill, if made law, would create a ‘right to local supply’ for communities, allowing them to benefit from the money currently received by larger utilities.

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Power for People is campaigning for other MPs across the country to support the Bill.

Steve Shaw, their Director, said: “We warmly welcome Angus MacNeil’s support for this initiative. People like clean, local energy most when they know that their communities are receiving benefits from it.

“The Local Electricity Bill would enable this to happen across the country.”

Angus MacNeil added: “It is vital that communities benefit as our economy transitions to one with increasingly more decentralised and clean energy.

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“The Local Electricity Bill will enable local energy generation to benefit local communities.

“The Bill should reduce transmission charges both for producers and consumers of electricity.

“If electricity was to be consumed locally it would reduce the random bureaucracy that the government calls the electricity market associated with charging and disproportionally and badly affecting the rural parts of Scotland.

“I will do all I can to ensure the Bill becomes law.”