Energy Local let 100 Bethesda homes buy village hydro power at half the usual price

BBC Wales reported in December 2016 on a trial in Bethesda, Gwynedd, where 100 households were clubbing together to buy the power from a local 100kW hydro scheme on the Berthen river, a National Trust plant a mile outside the village. Normally, community schemes and large power stations alike feed the grid and consumers have no real connection with where electricity comes from. Energy Local, a company set up to help communities benefit from locally owned generation, coordinated the trial.

The hydro's output is split evenly between club members using energy at any moment, and each home pays 7p/kWh for its share: about half the average UK price, but more than the hydro would usually earn selling to the grid. It is conceptual, as the homes are not plugged into the hydro; smart meters show how much they use when it is generating. Co-operative Energy buys from the hydro, sells to the households and tops them up when it is not running. Members are expected to run appliances after rain; backers expected savings of 10 to 30%.

Both sides gain: the community pays more to its own hydro than the grid would, and gets a lower bill. Founder Dr Mary Gillie called it 'a win-win', and the Co-op's head of renewables Mark Billsborough said it had been 'quite difficult to get this working'. The pilot was meant to be rolled out nationally, focused on areas of high fuel poverty, and villagers were fundraising for a second community-owned plant.

The grid price paid to small hydros is low while retail prices are high, leaving a gap a local deal can split.

Metering by when each home uses power means no physical wiring to the hydro is needed.

An existing supplier, Co-operative Energy, buys from the hydro, sells to the homes and tops them up.

Paying 7p to the local generator rather than the grid price helps fund community-owned plants.

Match consumption to local generation by metering it, and you can cut a bill and pay the generator more without building new wires.

At the time of the BBC report, the trial was a pilot with 100 households and the backers hoped to extend it to other communities across the UK, targeting high fuel poverty. The National Trust adviser said he was being contacted every week by people from across the UK. The article does not report measured savings from the trial.