Wirral Council plans local energy company

Wirral Council looks set to become the next local authority to launch a municipal energy company. The Council’s leader has backed the move and the cabinet will next week consider three commercial structures to supply residents with gas and power.

According to the council, one in ten Wirral households are in fuel poverty, defined as spending at least 10% of household income on energy. Suppliers tend to require substantial upfront deposits from lower income households or those with patchy credit history, compounding their problems.

“We will do everything in our power to support our residents to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives,” said Davies.

“These proposals would see the council create a new energy company which would, at no cost to the tax payer, put us in a position to sell gas and electricity to residents at a much lower rate,” he continued.

“I am delighted we have been able to produce such an imaginative proposal to help every resident in our borough save money on their energy bills.”

The council will consider becoming a white label supplier, a fully licensed supplier, or taking the ‘licence lite’ model developed by regulator Ofgem. The council claims each option has been launched successfully by a number of local authorities, citing neighbouring Liverpool City Council’s white label operation and Nottingham City Council’s fully licensed supply model.

While a white label approach is considered the simplest for municipal companies aiming to secure better retail energy prices for residents unable to access market leading deals, becoming a fully licensed supplier is now relatively straightforward due to ‘licence in a box’ companies reducing the administrative burden. Securing a full supply licence also enables municipal energy companies to think beyond local energy retail.