In Plymouth around 11% of households are in fuel poverty, a figure just above the national average. “Plymouth isn’t the wealthiest city in the country, and it has quite a poor housing stock because during the war many houses were demolished and there were lots of quick fixes. A lot of those ‘quick’ fixes have never been upgraded,” says Jemma Knowles, part of the low-carbon team at Plymouth city council.
Knowles, her colleagues and more than 850 local members run Plymouth Energy Community (PEC), a big-thinking, multifaceted project that aims to create a greener city and save residents money on their energy bills. Established in 2013, PEC has grown from a council initiative into a large community-led operation offering many different services to help the people of Plymouth.
“Our volunteer-training programme means we now have a whole team that goes out to people’s houses to give advice on how to become more energy efficient,” says Knowles. PEC offers grants for home insulation, accessible information on switching energy providers and a free fuel debt advice service, in partnership with various other organisations.
One of PEC’s biggest achievements to date is the installation of solar panels on 21 schools and public buildings through its sister organisation, PEC Renewables. The solar panels are funded by the sale of community shares as well as a loan from the council.
“People who are passionate about solar energy but can’t put solar panels on their own house can invest in the community shares that we offer,” says Knowles. “Roughly half of our investors are from the Plymouth area and we allow a minimum investment of £50. We wanted as many people as possible to be part of it, even if they didn’t have a lot of money to invest.”
The first call for investors in the scheme in February 2014 was a great success, with more than £600,000 raised through share sales. Predicted returns for investors are around 6% – better than many high-street savings accounts. This year’s effort raised a grand total of £850,000, which will pay for a second wave of solar-roof installations, including on top of the Plymouth Life Centre.
“It’s one of the busiest leisure centres in the country. This will be our biggest installation yet,” says Knowles. “Plymouth Life Centre looks out over the city; once the solar panels are installed, it will show community energy in action to the whole city.”
And there are even bigger plans in store. In five years the organisation wants to have enough locally owned renewable energy to power more than 1,100 homes, and to continue to address fuel poverty and carbon emissions, making Plymouth one of the greenest cities in the country.
Runners-up: Low Carbon Hub; Repowering London – Brixton
