A New Vision for Local Energy — The Ball Hidden in Your Court by Barry James

I once asked a newly minted doctor of economics ‘What’s an economy for?’. Her eyes widened. Dumbstruck for what seemed an eternity. The thought had never occurred to her. I often get a similar reaction when I ask that sort of question.

We often get so buried in the details of modern work and life that we don’t have the opportunity to zoom-out far enough to re-examine, or even see, the, often obsolete, assumptions that underpin (and often undermine) the plans and actions into which we pour our time and energy.

2 maintenance girl engineer carry tool box routine maintenance at greenery solar farm in village

Meanwhile we continue to get poorer. Austerity has become an expectation. A way of life.

Are we now living for our, global, economy?

One of the chief drivers is energy. A modern essential that’s no longer affordable for those without a high income. It eats into (or eats whole) what we used to call our ‘disposable income’ — which seems to have gone out of fashion.

With energy costs rivalling and competing with spending on food (10% v 13%) for the 10% with the lowest incomes.

Captive!

We’re told, by Ofgem and government, that this is a fait accompli . Our energy prices are set on the global energy markets — and even if we as a country work to edge away from this it will take massive investment and a decade or more. We should bite the bullet, get over it, and pay up.

This is true… but only up to a point. There are things we can do about it, at every level, short, medium as well as longer term.

After several years surveying this landscape — looking at the national and global energy economies, working with experts, and ‘zooming out’ — its now clear we need a new, more holistic, less siloed, energy vision for the UK.

A New Vision for UK Energy

A New vision for local energy — based on where we are now and the pathways now open to us. Pathways obscured by those obsolete assumptions.

Rejected Energy: We have long forgotten and are neglecting the fact that for every unit of energy arriving at our meters two have already been lost. ‘Rejected’.

This did not matter much when it was an inevitability, because energy had to be generated centrally (for economies of scale) and distributed via the grid. The name of the game was to maximise the efficiencies in the generation, and minimise the losses in the transmission — in some places ‘rejected energy’ rises to 3 to 1 and beyond.

But local energy was the past: Local Electricity stations, Town Gas production, from coal. Outcompeted. Gone. Forgotten.

But over the last couple of decades some things changed. Gradually at first but so radically as to have obsoleted that (and some other) assumptions. Together with the rules, regulations and experiences we still use to guide our decisions. Often making them completely misleading.

As Tony Seba, among others, have been first predicting and latterly pointing out for over a decade the time has come, and has now passed, when we can harvest all the energy we need locally — for our homes, schools and businesses. No fuel required.

The Global-Energy Stupidity Tax

Now crucially, we can store it for when we need it too. Reducing our reliance on the grid — while supporting it’s renewal.

Crucially reducing our dependence and our fragility, our reliance and exposure to the global markets… and what I’ve come to think of as the global-energy stupidity tax.

Every unit harvested and used locally replacing three units produced centrally*.

The Economics of this Shift are Astonishing

The economics of this, local and nationally, are astonishing. As are the implications — especially for our towns, cities, neighbourhood, households and businesses.

So astonishing that they have the potential to return £Billions per year in spending back into local economies across the UK, while vastly accelerating decarbonisation.

A Multi-Track Transition

Turning it from an essentially one-track, stuttering and faltering process into a massively parallel one from which we can all benefit — and much faster too.

Every time a locale moves from 100% dependence on grid energy pressure on the grid weakens and the urgency and need for hugely expensive replacement infrastructure lessens.

We can progressively move the business of energy production away from globally-priced, extremely centralised and leaky production, to create jobs and spending locally. Sharing a local slice of least £130B per year — and ever rising.

The Energy Harvest

Harvesting (capture via solar, wind etc) and storing an ever increasing proportion of the energy we need locally…

While making it PAY FOR ITSELF!

This is no-fuel energy, remember. It displaces bills, losses and infrastructure costs — and creates new opportunities; Financial and ecological, as well as accelerating decarbonisation — as I laid out in a recent consultation response (REAPing local energy @ SCALE*). TK

So the money to pay for it is already in the system — it need not require, as has been the current assumption, but can be accelerated by, additional incoming investment…

Practical Plans for Local Energy?

So there really is scope for a new vision, and new, implementable, plans for local energy that can:

Accelerate decarbonisation

Pay for themselves — often from the off

Slash bills — supporting households, businesses and the local economy

Reduce dependency and increase resilience

Support the grid — and its transition to a smarter, two way, inter-trading network

Transform local economies

So what’s the catch? There isn’t one! Except that for each town, city, region, area and neighbourhood the initiative lies with…. YOU!

Paradoxically, and for a variety of reasons, despite the fact that the positive impact for the UK as a whole could be huge and unprecedented, initiatives for this are extremely unlikely to come from central government — and support will be molasses-slow and spread thin — if it arrives at all.

Calling All Areas, Regions, Towns & Cities

So regions, local authorities, neighbourhoods, towns and cities — it may be hidden in the long grass at present… but the ball really is in your court!

It’s time to take a look, seek it out and pick it up!

Barry James is founder of Green Streets Revolution, Humane Economics & Humane Energy.

NOTES

*Not as severe for centrally farmed energy but since we pay for the most expensive unit generated by gas still currently as financially impactful.