Tipp households urged to buy locally-produced renewable electricity

Do you know where your electricity comes from? Who is producing the electricity that powers your lights, TV, fridge etc?

This is something that most of us don’t even think about. However, it’s something that Tipperary based Community Power want to change. You can now choose to buy your power from local community-owned electricity generators such as Templederry Wind Farm, which was featured on RTÉ Nationwide last Friday.

Based in Nenagh, Community Power is Ireland’s first community-owned electricity supplier. It is a partnership of community energy organisations around Ireland working to create a sustainable energy future for their local areas. The communities are working on saving energy, retrofits, microgeneration and developing plans for renewable energy generation.

In Co Tipperary, members are Energy Communities Tipperary Co-operative and Templederry Energy Resources. The group grew out of Templederry, which is Ireland's first and only community-owned wind farm and is now working to support more renewable energy projects across Ireland, and will buy electricity from small suppliers.

Last November, Community Power was granted a licence to become a large utility supplier. This is a game-changer for community-owned energy generation in Ireland. Until then, Community Power had been buying and selling power between a handful of small renewable generators and a few customers. 

Community Power can now take on thousands of customers and can compete on a national footing across the whole of Ireland, buying and selling community-owned power to and from the people of Ireland. Householders, businesses, farmers, schools, etc, throughout Tipperary and nationwide are all being urged to switch suppliers, which will in turn enable Community Power to assist other communities develop their own projects. In a market that has been closed to community and citizens for years, this means the door is now firmly open for citizens and communities to benefit from generating their own power.

The company wants Ireland to run on clean renewable power, developed for people, owned by people. They recognise Ireland’s energy system is in crisis, with over 90% reliance on climate-polluting fossil fuels, and they are working to change that. Community Power wants the many benefits of generating renewable power to be shared by the people and communities of Ireland, and they want people to be able to afford to power their homes.

Anyone can switch electricity supplier online via the website, communitypower.ie. Community Power have committed to always offering fair, consistent, competitive prices and will never offer low rates only to hack up the prices later.

Development co-ordinator Derry O'Donnell will be speaking to community groups, individuals and businesses about how they can switch their electricity supplier to Community Power, which grew out of a partnership of community energy groups from Tipperary, Limerick, Galway, Mayo and Dublin. Profits from Community Power will be used to develop more community-owned renewable energy. 

To find out more or to get involved email derry@energycommunitiestipp.ie, phone 089-9546808 or visit the websites energycommunitiestipp.ie and communitypower.ie.