Wednesday 22 May 2013 - CUMBRIAN ELECTRICITY BILL PAYERS TO BENEFIT FROM DISCOUNT "WIND-FALL"

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Edward Davey is today (22 May) launching a radical initiative that will give homes and businesses near Tallentire Wind Farm money off their electricity bills no matter who their supplier is.

Developed by British renewable energy project developer RES in response to feedback from local
communities around its existing wind farms and polling undertaken on its behalf by Populus, the Local Electricity Discount Scheme will be first paid to electricity bill payers close to Tallentire Wind Farm, near Cockermouth.

Over 300 properties closest to the wind farm will qualify for the discount, and are being contacted directly by RES with details of how they can register interest in receiving a £108 annual discount on their electricity bills.

Tallentire Wind Farm is in the final stage of construction and is set to be fully operational by the early summer, generating enough electricity to meet the average annual demand of more than 7,700 households.

Speaking on the day of the launch, Secretary of State Edward Davey said:

"We know that two-thirds of people support the growth of onshore wind. But far too often, host communities have seen the wind farms but not the windfall.

"I am pleased to see RES pioneering this innovative scheme. Providing local communities with a discount on their energy bills no matter their supplier is exactly the type of initiative we are keen to encourage as part of a closer relationship between energy generators and local communities.

"With global gas prices having trebled in the last decade, wind farms such as Tallentire will play an important part not only in reducing carbon emissions but also providing green jobs and energy security for the UK.

"We expect to publish the response to our call for evidence on community engagement and benefits for onshore wind shortly, and this is exactly the sort of scheme we are keen to see more of."

Gordon MacDougall, RES UK & Ireland Chief Operating Officer, said:

"'Often when we've talked to communities around our wind farms, people have asked if they can have cheaper electricity in return for hosting a project, so we've worked out a way to make that happen.

"The Local Electricity Discount Scheme launched today at Tallentire is the shape of things to come. We are offering those residential, community and business properties closest to Tallentire Wind Farm wind farm a discount of £108 per year off their electricity bills, which will be paid directly to their electricity supplier. The discount will apply for the lifetime of the wind farm - around 25 years.

"The Local Electricity Discount Scheme is offered as an additional benefit to RES' Community Benefit Funds, which at our new sites provide £2,000 per megawatt annual contributions to local communities that are used to support local initiatives and organisations.

"This means that local communities will receive a total of £5,000 per megawatt per year in community benefit at all new RES sites. To put that into perspective, for the community around Tallentire the total benefit over the project's lifetime is worth over £1.5 million."

RES piloted its first LEDS scheme at its proposed site in Bryn Llywelyn in Carmarthenshire, Wales, in the summer of 2012, and intends to implement LEDS across the UK at all new sites of 5MW or more that are submitted into the planning system during 2013