Excess energy sales made easier

Royal assent has been given for a Government supported Private Member’s Bill that will make it easier for householders who produce electricity from microgeneration technologies at their homes to sell unused power back to their supplier.
Mark Lazarowicz’s Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill aims to reduce carbon emissions and fuel poverty through a series of measures designed to increase installation of micro-wind turbines, solar panels and other localised energy production technologies.
The Act will make it easier for excess energy to be sold back to the utilities by encouraging energy companies to establish schemes that reward smaller scale generators for their exported power. This is a key plank of the DTI’s recently published microgeneration strategy and is now legally underpinned by the bill’s passage through the house.
Opening up the ability to earn money for the sale of electricity produced by these technologies will help to offset the cost of installation and play a part in the expansion of the sector, bringing both environmental and economic benefits.