Community owned energy for Leith
Edinburgh is planning heat networks for Leith. We think Leith residents should own them.
What’s it all about?
Proposed changes to the UK’s energy systems creates a chance for groups of people living near to each other to own their energy, keeping the money they spend in the community and correcting some of the injustices in our current energy systems.
From these changes, via community ownership, can come lower bills, lower pollution, increased control, and nicer places to live. A true Just Transition.
Leith Energy is a project by Eala Impacts, a Leith-based social enterprise. We aim to understand the demand for community owned energy in Leith, to offer some information about the changes being proposed to our energy systems, and the opportunities this creates. The project will host several events, give out information, and look for people’s views.
Though the project we’ll see who else in Leith might join us to turn Leith Energy into something more.
So what’s the big idea?
Energy is changing in the UK, urban areas are moving to heat networks, and more distributed energy generation is possible. The UK is turning away from privatisation, but public ownership isn’t an option for these new energy systems. This gives communities a chance to own their own energy systems. City of Edinburgh Council are looking at how to install heat networks in Leith but have no community partner to speak to. We want to change that.
At the same time, we see that this process can build community, create structures at grass roots level, create resilience, lower costs, and spread wealth to improve the lives of everyone who lives in Leith.
Read more here.
What are we doing in this project?
Leith Energy will hold several events over the next three months to present information and spread the word of what is changing in our energy systems. We’ll explain how communities can grab this chance to strengthen themselves, and give examples of how this has been done in other places. We’ll ask people to fill in our questionnaire, and seek volunteers to take this project on to the next level with us.
What can you do?
- Join our mailing list.
- Fill out our questionnaire. It takes less around 2 minutes to complete.
- Attend the events we put on which will be advertised around Leith and via our mailing list.
- Contact us if you would like to be involved in a permanent organisation for Leith Energy and to join us in its co-creation.
Who we’re looking for
We expect Leith Energy to be comprised of groups of organisations, so we’re looking for those who have (or could have):
- An Owners Association in a tenement
- A Residents Association in a street
- An existing heat network
- A business or other organisation in a building that generates a lot of heat.
Partners
