Local Authorities should be required to consider the role microgeneration has to play by being given the power to set local targets for microgeneration, so to allow them to set out their individual contribution to the overall national target.

Some forward thinking Local Authorities have already done this – Woking Borough Council and Merton are probably the best publicised examples of where high level targets have been set for CO² reductions and the integration of microgeneration respectively. These two boroughs are widely regarded as exemplars, and as result of these policies have experienced significant uptake of microgeneration.

However, experience so far suggests that Local Authorities require an enthusiastic “champion” for climate change or microgeneration policy either on the Council’s staff or amongst its politicians for ambitious local policies to be introduced. We believe that a requirement for Local Authorities to consider the role of microgeneration, coupled with the power for them to set local targets, should lead to sufficient local engagement, policy development initiatives and activity within the microgeneration sector.