THIS month Hackney Council has embarked on plans to establish its own energy company.
Plans are now underway to set up the Energy Company Delivery Board by January 2019, in order to further develop the manifesto commitment to create a municipal energy company.
It has been announced that the remit of the company will include developing a plan on how to utilise up to 50% of Hackney’s residential roof space, owned by the council, covering it in solar panels and driving the deployment of renewable energy infrastructure both within Hackney and beyond its borders.
The community focused company aims to go beyond the pioneering work of other municipal companies such as Robin Hood Energy by ensuring that financial risk is limited, and through placing the supply and generation of renewable energy amongst the highest priorities of the company.
“As temperatures across world continue to rise with greenhouse gas emissions, Hackney’s energy company will help answer the alarming calls of scientists to respond to the global warming crisis as part of its commitment to securing 100% clean energy across all of its functions by 2050” stated by Councillor Jon Burke.
Jon Burke further stated:
“In the face of limited, and often retrograde, Central Government action, Hackney is joining a movement across local government that is helping to transform the energy system from one underpinned by fossil fuels, to one characterised by clean and extremely low carbon sources of energy.”