Local green clean energy, for local people, for local benefit! 

Welcome to Energy Local Southwell Area

We are a community-led club that enables direct sales of locally-generated clean energy, to local businesses and households at a mutually beneficial price.  The benefits of this are:

• Access to cheaper local green energy  
• Conscious electricity consumption and energy conservation will be supported. 
• Local community is strengthened 
• Local investment in renewables will be encouraged 
• Locally produced green energy is consumed locally

 Who can join the Energy Local Southwell Area club? 

The Southwell Area club is made up of electricity consumers, and renewable energy producers. The club covers Southwell Normanton, Hockerton, Upton Fiskerton and Morton. This is currently limited to the geographical spread of the Southwell electrical substation coverage (see substation area map).

The benefits in more detail

As a consumer member, you can benefit as follows: 

1) ACCESS TO CHEAPER LOCAL GREEN ENERGY: powering your home or business with local renewable energy means cutting carbon emissions. Electricity consumed when it is being locally generated by the wind turbine and solar arrays is priced more cheaply than standard electricity prices. Selling directly to consumers cuts out the middle man and saves the consumer money. 

2) CONSUME ELECTRICITY CONSCIOUSLY: as a club member you will be informed about when electricity is being generated locally and therefore when you can buy it at the MATCH tariff agreed by the club. Outside of these times, you will have it directly from our partner 100 Green, who provide 100% renewable electricity and gas. This will be on a TIME OF USE TARIFF that varies according to the time day that it is being consumed (and will always be above the MATCH tariff). This variable pricing mechanism, paired with accurate information about local electricity availability, helps you to make choices about when to consume electricity and get thinking about how you might be able to conserve it.  

3) STRONGER COMMUNITY: as a club member you are participating in a community initiative that connects you with others in your community. It also means that you are supporting a non-profit local initiative and a whole network of community energy clubs to grow.  

4) SUPPORT LOCAL INVESTMENT: local trading of energy helps to keep money in the Southwell area, and make new renewable energy projects in the area more viable. 

Renewable Energy Producers can benefit too! 

Initially Sustainable Hockerton’s wind turbine and PV arrays will supply the club members. More producers will hopefully join the club in the future. 

Sustainable Hockerton is a community organisation that has installed a community owned wind turbine and several solar arrays on farm buildings in the local area. It is not for profit in nature, distributing its surplus to local people primarily in the Hockerton area. 

Benefit to an energy producer like Sustainable Hockerton will be that energy can be sold at a higher price into the club compared to selling to the national market.  For example Sustainable Hockerton currently gets 7 pence for one kilowatt hour of electricity produced by the turbine or PV arrays, whereas in the club it will be possible to sell renewable electricity for at least double this price. Consumers are likely to be happy with this as they have to buy electricity in the daytime at much more than this, so it’s a win win situation!

Legal Structure of the Energy Local Southwell Area club

The legal set up of the club is as a co-operative. 

Membership Requirements 

We’re initially seeking households and small businesses to become founding members of the Energy Local Southwell Area club.  
 

Prospective members must: 

1. have premises located within the Southwell Electricity Substation area- within Southwell, Normanton, Hockerton, Upton, Fiskerton or Morton (see map) 
     
2. have a smart meter (or be happy for one to be installed) 
     
3. be able to switch energy supplier to our partner, 100Green 
     
4. be prepared to accept a tariff with 100Green that, when locally generated power is not being used, may be higher than some domestic tariffs. 
     

If you meet the criteria above, we’d love to have you on board, so please register your interest in joining by clicking on the "Join Energy Local Southwell Area" button at the bottom of this page.