By Juliet Davenport, CEO

As we head towards election day, we thought it would be a good opportunity to update you on some of the work we’ve been doing in Westminster recently.

At Good Energy we’ve always been proud of our campaigning credentials and we’ve always tried to be more than just a company to our customers and generators. Empowering individuals to make a difference to climate change is at the heart of our ethos. It’s for that reason we strive to act as an advocate in Westminster for our generators and customers to ensure that politicians of all parties recognise the importance of growing renewable energy, particularly on a small and medium scale. Over the years we’ve built up a wealth of knowledge and experience from working with our community of energy entrepreneurs and we want to capitalise on that by communicating that information to those politicians most likely to influence Government and Opposition policy.

Our recent Fair Deal for Energy Entrepreneurs campaign is just one example of some of the work we’ve been doing. By working with Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael and by providing our generators with the materials necessary to write to their own Members of Parliament, almost 100 MPs have rallied to our cause and called for the fair treatment to those microgenerators who broke the ground that made the Clean Energy Cash Back Scheme (aka feed-in tariff) possible. At the same time, we’ve been speaking to key MPs, both on the front and back benches, to get them to press our case further through their own contacts. With it now looking increasingly likely that the current Labour Government will be in Opposition in a week’s time, and with the Conservatives committed to reviewing early adopters’ policy immediately upon taking office and with the support from the vast majority of Lib Dem MPs, we now stand a very good chance of winning this campaign.

The next few days is sure to be one of the most exciting ends to a General Election campaign for years, and who knows what the result will be! Whether it is a new Conservative government, a hung Parliament or a coalition government, a whole range of opportunities will exist in Westminster to press Good Energy’s case in the debate on the issues that matter. Whether it be campaigning for a Fair Deal for Energy Entrepreneurs or arguing that it’s not right to expect renewable electricity customers to pay for carbon capture and storage plans, we hope to take full advantage of those opportunities and try our best to act as your advocate into the future.

Some of the other issues we hope to take up with whoever wins power include: delivering a fair and effective renewable heat incentive; addressing some of the planning problems associated with onshore wind and other renewable schemes; and reform of the national grid to ensure independent electricity generators can deliver their power. So, please watch this space.