to consider the following motions received (if any) in accordance with Council Procedure Rules:
a. From Cllr McKay and Cllr Abbott
‘A priority for this Council is to address the challenges of climate change by reducing emissions across the district of South Hams and to prepare the area for the inevitable consequences of global warming.
This Council will set itself goals based on the latest climate science, and in the interests of its residents and beyond strive to achieve these. However, it recognises that it will need help from central government in terms of both funding and legislation.
It is therefore essential that this Council, in partnership with other Local Authorities, either directly or through the LGA, vigorously and persistently lobbies central government for the support that is desperately needed to effectively address the threats to our communities as a result of climate change.
Of immediate importance are the problems community renewable energy projects face, which can only be dealt with through changes to legislation. Currently, to become an energy supplier, it is necessary to enter into highly complex network agreements and grid balancing codes that make the cost prohibitive.
The Local Electricity Bill was an attempt to address this by the introduction of:
a) A Community Electricity Export Guarantee: which would create a right for sites that generate low carbon electricity with a capacity below 5 megawatts to export their electricity to an existing electricity supplier on fair terms.
b) A Community Electricity Supplier Services Scheme: which would create a requirement on existing larger energy suppliers to work with community schemes to sell the power they generate to local customers. Existing suppliers could charge a fee for doing this, but that fee must be reasonable.
The Local Electricity Bill has now been absorbed into the Energy Bill as clauses 272 and 273. The Energy Bill is at its Committee stage, and has still to progress through its Report and 3rd Reading stages before it becomes law. It is an enormous bill.
The need for community based local renewable energy schemes is becoming increasingly urgent if we are to drive down eCO2 emissions, provide energy security for our residents while also addressing the cost of energy for residents and businesses alike.
This Council therefore resolves that:
1. It recognises the urgent need for community energy generation projects and the need to create the legislative environment in which they can succeed.
2. It fully supports clauses 272 and 273 of the Energy Bill and urges government to speed the passage of the Energy Bill or, in recognition of the importance of clauses 272 and 273, to allow the Local Electricity Bill to proceed separately and at speed.
3. It will write to our local MPs and the leaders of all the UK political parties emphasising the importance of community energy projects and the urgent need to expedite changes to legislation to make them viable.
4. It will seek to partner with other Local Authorities both directly and through the LGA to lobby parliament to achieve the legislative changes.
5. It will publicise, through all suitable media channels, the importance of the need for changes to legislation to allow community energy projects to succeed.’
Minutes:
23/23
It was noted that one Motion on Notice had been received in accordance with Council Procedure Rules;
a) From Cllr McKay and Cllr Abbott
‘A priority for this Council is to address the challenges of climate change by reducing emissions across the district of South Hams and to prepare the area for the inevitable consequences of global warming.
This Council will set itself goals based on the latest climate science, and in the interests of its residents and beyond strive to achieve these. However, it recognises that it will need help from central government in terms of both funding and legislation.
It is therefore essential that this Council, in partnership with other Local Authorities, either directly or through the LGA, vigorously and persistently lobbies central government for the support that is desperately needed to effectively address the threats to our communities as a result of climate change.
Of immediate importance are the problems community renewable energy projects face, which can only be dealt with through changes to legislation. Currently, to become an energy supplier, it is necessary to enter into highly complex network agreements and grid balancing codes that make the cost prohibitive.
The Local Electricity Bill was an attempt to address this by the introduction of:
a) A Community Electricity Export Guarantee: which would create a right for sites that generate low carbon electricity with a capacity below 5 megawatts to export their electricity to an existing electricity supplier on fair terms.
b) A Community Electricity Supplier Services Scheme: which would create a requirement on existing larger energy suppliers to work with community schemes to sell the power they generate to local customers. Existing suppliers could charge a fee for doing this, but that fee must be reasonable.
The Local Electricity Bill has now been absorbed into the Energy Bill as clauses 272 and 273. The Energy Bill is at its Committee stage, and has still to progress through its Report and 3rd Reading stages before it becomes law. It is an enormous bill.
The need for community based local renewable energy schemes is becoming increasingly urgent if we are to drive down eCO2 emissions, provide energy security for our residents while also addressing the cost of energy for residents and businesses alike.
This Council therefore resolves that:
1. It recognises the urgent need for community energy generation projects and the need to create the legislative environment in which they can succeed.
2. It fully supports clauses 272 and 273 of the Energy Bill and urges government to speed the passage of the Energy Bill or, in recognition of the importance of clauses 272 and 273, to allow the Local Electricity Bill to proceed separately and at speed.
3. It will write to our local MPs and the leaders of all the UK political parties emphasising the importance of community energy projects and the urgent need to expedite changes to legislation to make them viable.
4. It will seek to partner with other Local Authorities both directly and through the LGA to lobby parliament to achieve the legislative changes.
5. It will publicise, through all suitable media channels, the importance of the need for changes to legislation to allow community energy projects to succeed.’
During debate, the following points were raised:
(a) A number of Members stressed the importance of this Motion and therefore wished to put on record their thanks to the proposer and seconder for submitting it for inclusion on this agenda;
(b) In light of a Member suggestion, an additional (part 6) to the motion was approved by the proposer and seconder for inclusion as part of the substantive motion. This addition read as follows:
‘It will write to the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Business and Trade and request that the installation of the vital grid network link at Hinckley is brought forward as a matter of urgency to enable more renewable energy projects to come forward and not be left awaiting the commissioning of Hinckley C Nuclear Power Station that could take years.’
It was then:
RESOLVED
That Council:
1. recognises the urgent need for community energy generation projects and the need to create the legislative environment in which they can succeed;
2. fully supports clauses 272 and 273 of the Energy Bill and urges government to speed the passage of the Energy Bill or, in recognition of the importance of clauses 272 and 273, to allow the Local Electricity Bill to proceed separately and at speed;
3. will write to our local MPs and the leaders of all the UK political parties emphasising the importance of community energy projects and the urgent need to expedite changes to legislation to make them viable;
4. will seek to partner with other Local Authorities both directly and through the LGA to lobby parliament to achieve the legislative changes;
5. will publicise, through all suitable media channels, the importance of the need for changes to legislation to allow community energy projects to succeed; and
6. will write to the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Business and Trade and request that the installation of the vital grid network link at Hinckley is brought forward as a matter of urgency to enable more renewable energy projects to come forward and not be left awaiting the commissioning of Hinckley C Nuclear Power Station that could take years.