For too long tackling climate change has been perceived as something that makes people’s lives harder, not easier. For that very reason, those elected politicians tasked with making sure that life runs smoothly, from emptying the bins to keeping the lights on, have tended to ignore or skirt round the subject. But as the economics of renewable energy become more compelling, pragmatic local leaders are seeing opportunity rather than inconvenience in pursuing this agenda.
Local leaders choosing to seize the clean energy agenda are doing it for a range of reasons: it makes financial sense since it saves the council money (and can generate income too), it’s a growth and jobs agenda, and it can create opportunities to tackle social injustice through smart technology and markets.
Peterborough and Swindon, both Conservative-run councils, are just two such authorities, using innovative financial approaches and practical public engagement to reduce costs, make money, and provide for the community they serve. Crucially this has been achieved through building public consent less through planet-saving and much more through place-making.
Aspirational voters don’t wish for a degraded environment: being close to nature is something that many people are prepared to pay for. And ensuring that the environment is safe for future generations is close to the philosophy of many local leaders, especially those leading their local communities at council level. As devolution develops, there will be more and more opportunity for local leaders to shape the response to these challenges that meets the needs of their local community now and in the future.
Peterborough has made a reality of the aphorism that where there is muck there’s brass. Crucially they have ensured the proceeds of their new energy from waste plant stay with the council. The contract is unique in that not only does the authority own the facility outright, funded through prudential borrowing, but also that it retains the full value of the energy generated by the facility.
Almost everything residents put in their black bins is converted into heat and electricity, and it has virtually eliminated waste going to landfill. This will save the authority over £1 million per year in gate fees and tax for landfill and generate 7.5MW of electricity for export to the grid (the equivalent of 15% of residents’ electricity use), sufficient to power over 16,000 homes.
Future proofing the plant ensures it has the capacity to deal with extra waste from 26,400 more homes due to be built over the next few years.
Often local authorities do this and don’t shout about it. But they are missing a trick. It is important to tell a story that speaks to the hearts as well as the heads of residents. While saving the planet is rarely the main driver of voters’ behaviour, feeling they are part of a city’s mission to do the responsible thing increases the chances of residents supporting this activity, especially if it is combined with more immediate tangible benefits for themselves and the wider community.
Mainstreaming environmental policies is essential to their widespread deployment. Early engagement with residents was vital for the success of this project: they were involved in every step of the process, helping to choose the technology involved and residents continue to meet on a regular basis with the council.
Making the most of the waste from the growing city is key to the vision of Peterborough as the environmental capital of the UK, and generating energy in a safe, efficient and sustainable way saves money and reduces the impact on the environment.
If the fact that it reduces the amount of CO2 equivalent the city produces by 10,000 tonnes per year sounds like an add-on, that matters less than that it is being done, while telling a story that links environmental policies with city pride and sensible savings.
Swindon Borough Council has a solar strategy that makes money for the council and for residents, issuing solar bonds to create a financial incentive for residents to buy in to the project. Their unique target of installing 200MW of renewable energy by 2020, the equivalent to 100% of all energy used in local homes has driven innovative approaches to finance, to removing red tape and bureaucracy and to working with communities to retain support.
They launched the first bond available to the general public in over 100 years, and the first “Green ISA”. The council’s first “solar bond” sold out within two months, a month earlier than the deadline. This success continues with the Green ISA. The current offer is the UK’s first council-backed Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA), giving investors an effective rate of return of 6% tax-free over the 20 year life of the investment. The minimum investment is just £5, to make the offer available to as many people as possible. The first dividend from the Swindon Common Solar Farm solar bond has just paid out, at exactly the rate that was predicted when residents signed up to invest.
The project received planning consent through the council’s innovative use of local development orders. This speeded up the planning process, provided an incentive for developers to come forward and show their hands early, remove inappropriate sites and avoided large concentrations around villages, while allowing for a full public consultation to take place.
As a result Swindon is on track to meet its stretching 2020 target. When the second farm is finished (due this month), Swindon will have achieved building 167 MW, equivalent to 83% of all energy used by local homes. And £45,000 per annum from the rent, and business rates from the second solar farm, will be used to finance a £600,000 1300m noise barrier along a dual carriageway.
Cities like Peterborough and Swindon have much to shout about but they are aware they also have much to learn from other local leaders who have also spotted the opportunities available in renewable energy and energy productivity. That is the reason UK100 was established – a network of UK cities and communities committed to 100% clean energy. Not just because it is good for the planet but for the people we serve, in terms of jobs, prosperity, health and wellbeing. Connecting the leaders to accelerate the shift to clean energy is essential so that their innovation can be implemented at scale. Local leaders on clean energy are potential allies of a government which has stretching climate change targets to meet and an industrial strategy it needs to forge that meets the challenges of the 21st century, from skills to manufacturing. A localised response to energy generation and efficiency will enable leaders to shape a programme of national renewal that meets the challenges of a post-Brexit Britain.
Polly Billington is Director of UK100, the network of cities and communities committed to 100% clean energy by 2050.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author, not necessarily those of Bright Blue