Homeowners should be allowed to create their own green electricity and sell it to their neighbours, the chair of the environment committee has told the government. Currently, those who create renewable energy using solar panels or hydroelectric dams have to sell it back to the grid, rather than using it to power their own homes or those of their neighbours. Philip Dunne MP, backbencher and chair of the Environment Audit Committee (EAC), has written to business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng asking him to cut the red tape and allow local communities to power themselves. He argued that allowing people to profit from green energy would cause more projects to spring up across the country, helping the UK to reach Net Zero. Currently, there are many barriers in place, particularly for rural communities. The MP for Ludlow explained: “It must make sense for local projects to be able to consume the electricity they’re generating, partly because the grid is posing a real barrier for some of these projects getting off the ground.
Telegraph 6th May 2021 read more »