The Leader of the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group, councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has written to the new Energy Minister asking him to pledge the government’s support for the Local Electricity Bill during COP26.

The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021.  Here the participant nations will agree how to accelerate their actions to address climate change in accordance with their commitments as signatories to the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Councillor Sykes and his Liberal Democrat colleagues wants the new minister, The Rt Hon Greg Hands MP, to support the Local Electricity Bill, currently going through Parliament, as a government priority.

Commenting, Councillor Sykes said:   “We would like the UK Government to make this pledge as one of this nation’s commitments during COP26.  Locally generated power created through renewable technologies and supplied to local consumers must be one of our actions if we are to work successfully towards net zero.  But, in order to do this, we must reduce the cost and eliminate the bureaucracy that local energy producers face when entering the energy market.   The Local Electricity Bill will do this by creating a new Right of Local Supply so that community energy co-operatives can compete; this really will be power for the people.”