Local charity Westmill Sustainable Energy Trust (WeSET) is asking residents
in Shrivenham, Watchfield and Longcot to consider taking part in a trial
that aims to maximise the use of locally generated renewables and save money
for consumers.
To let local residents know about this project we will be delivering a
letter about the Energy Local trial to all households in Shrivenham,
Watchfield and Longcot in January, and inviting people to come to one of our
public meetings to find out more.
The meetings will be held at:
Watchfield Village Hall, Wednesday 14th January from 7.30pm Shrivenham
Memorial Hall, Sunday 18th January from 2pm
The Energy Local trial is funded by public body Innovate UK (formerly
Technology Strategy Board) and is being delivered by a partnership including
businesses, two universities and the WeSET charity. None of these partners
will make any money out of conducting the trial. We are seeking
50 households in Watchfield, Shrivenham and Longcot to take part in the
Energy Local trial.
Most renewable generation is exported to the grid and sold at 5-6p/kWh and
consumers must buy it back via utility companies around 14p/kWh. The Energy
Local model would allow consumers to group together to benefit from cheaper
prices at times of low demand or high generation and to access locally
generated renewable power directly.
Participants in the trial stay with their usual electricity supplier, but
will have some monitoring and control equipment installed for 12 – 18 months
that will calculate the savings that would be made on the Energy Local
tariff. These savings will be paid in the form of Co-op shopping vouchers.