When the Coalition Government took office in May 2010 it claimed it would be ‘the greenest government ever.’ But with the UK still lagging behind its European counterparts in the deployment of renewable energy technology, energy prices reaching record high, and increasing uncertainty about our security of supply, there’s still plenty to do.

We are at a time of unprecedented policy change in the energy market, with the government currently figuring out the £110 billion investment that’s required to make our energy system fit for the future. It’s never been more important to make a strong case for growing renewables.

In addition to meeting key officials across all government departments, our CEO Juliet Davenport regularly meets with members of the Government and Opposition to put the case for a strong policy which will support local energy initiatives. This is important because:

1. If we’re going to use more renewable energy, then we need to generate it in the right way. This is best done from a range of technologies spread across the widest set of locations to ensure consistency of supply.
2. Ensuring that a significant proportion of our energy is locally produced provides a backstop against energy insecurity abroad.
3. Locally produced energy gives people the option of having greater control over their energy costs and help introduce more competition amongst suppliers.

Last year, Juliet was invited to provide evidence to the Committee of MPs overseeing the Government’s work on Electricity Market reform. The subsequent report took on board many of our points, referencing Good Energy throughout.

The Electricity Market Reform White Paper was published in July 2011 and the good news is that thanks to pressure from Good Energy, our customers and other organisations the Government now clearly recognises the contribution that decentralised energy has to make in the energy market of the future. We didn’t get the full strategy we were after, but it has now decided to set up a new group, chaired by the Energy Minister, to look at those issues and barriers to decentralised energy in the UK and to ensure that it plays an important role in the Government’s plans going forward.

We’ve got a seat at the table, and will be continuing to press our case.