Communities could become more self sufficient in heat and power, and local councils will be allowed to benefit financially from generating green power under new proposals announced recently by Climate Change Minister Greg Barker. Empowering communities to generate their own energy on a large and a small scale can not only bring in an income but also help save money on fuel bills and increase domestic energy security. A previous ban on councils selling green electricity into the national grid is to be overturned - speaking at the Local Government Association annual conference, Climate Change secretary Chris Huhne said that he wants local councils to be allowed to sell electricity they produce from renewables to the national electricity grid. “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 I want to see this repealed and by the end of the year I hope local authorities will be able to sell electricity from renewables – generating revenue to help local services and keep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.”

Homes, schools and businesses are already guaranteed cash payments through the ‘feed-in tariff’ for producing their own green electricity through technologies such as solar panels or small wind turbines, as well as for selling it to the national grid. Around 100,000 homes and organisations have installed microgeneration technology so far.

The government has scrapped the grant scheme which was in force under the Labour government, which aimed to help individuals and organisations with the cost of installing renewable energy equipment. Nevertheless, the coalition is claiming that it wants to see what it can do to help develop the industry, create more job opportunities, and make sure customers can trust the green technology they buy.

Barker said: “I want to see more homes, communities and businesses generating their own energy. We can literally bring power back to the people. By becoming more self sufficient we can create sustainable local energy economies. People and communities can save money on their fuel bills at the same time as generating an income and cutting carbon. I want to work with industry to overcome the challenges it is facing. Together we will create a marketplace for jobs and prosperity alongside products and advice which people trust.”

A consultation, launched today, on the Microgeneration Strategy will look at four key areas for development:

Quality: ensure consumers have confidence that equipment and installation is reliable and adheres to the highest standards; Technology: examine how to improve products through more trialling of technologies new to the UK; Skills: develop the microgeneration supply chain to ensure it is properly equipped with the right people to meet the expected rise in demand, as well as creating and sustaining jobs in the UK; Advice: provide more accessible advice and information about microgeneration to homeowners, communities and small businesses.

The focus of the Microgeneration Strategy will be electricitygeneration technologies less than 50 kW in size, and heat generating technologies less than 300 kW in size. This includes:

· Air, ground and water source heat pumps
· solar photovoltaics (PV)
· solar thermal water heating
· biomass boilers
· micro Combined heat and power (micro CHP)
· micro wind turbines
· fuel cells
· micro hydro schemes
· passive flue gas recovery devices.

The Green Energy (Definition and Promotion) Act 2009 commits Government to consult on a new Microgeneration Strategy with the expressed purpose to promote microgeneration technologies in England only. The Government will publish the final Microgeneration Strategy in early 2011. Microgeneration is a devolved matter. The DAs have been consulted and will be developing their own plans for Microgeneration

Anyone wishing to contribute to the consultation should email: microgenconsult@decc.gsi.gov.uk, which went live at midnight on 12 July. The consultation will close on 22nd December 2010.