How a London Energy Co-Op is Trying to Bring Power to the People
We are featured in a new profile for Co-op News – read a few excerpts below:
On Fighting Fuel Poverty
“We have been doing energy advice work ever since our formation, but it’s just been an ever-growing concern. During lockdown, people were struggling with bills because they were suddenly at home all day and since 2022 there has been constant demand for help from people, not just those on benefits but those who are in work but with very low wages.”
The cost of living crisis means the co-op prioritises workshops on understanding energy bills, hosting energy cafés on improving home efficiency, and training community energy champions to spread knowledge, introducing opportunities for street‑wide retrofit training in places like Southwark.
On Community Share Offers:
“The whole process starts with schools or other community organisations getting in touch with us to say they would like help,” says Speciale. “We do feasibility studies and technical surveys, looking at the business case, and once we know it is feasible we raise community shares to sell them solar energy at a reduced rate, lower than a normal provider. We look after the installation for 20 years, making sure it’s at peak capacity.
“For LEDs there is a similar business model. We retrofit the lighting to access lower energy costs and charge an annual fee less than half of the cost of incandescent lighting.”
Selce works with hundreds of community groups, targeting vulnerable demographics like pensioners and migrants and helping individual households explore energy‑efficiency improvements. All the advice offered is free and the average saving is around £440 a year.
