It is currently very difficult for domestic customers to obtain reward for exported power from energy suppliers. This is largely because of the institutional legacy and inherent transaction costs built into the settlement system. The result is that electricity that flows only to the property next door is worth significantly less than that produced hundreds of miles away in much less efficient power stations.

We believe that two options exist to address this:

1. for energy suppliers to offer and publish terms for purchasing exported power from domestic consumers,
2. for microgeneration output to be “deemed” at a fixed annual level of kWh according to type approved product and installation standards for each technology, and for this to be subtracted from a customer’s actual gross consumption.

Labour MP Mark Lazarowicz’s Private Members Bill - “Climate Change & Sustainable Energy Bill" proposes that:

• ”It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, within twelve months of the passing of this Act, to make an order establishing a scheme enabling electricity produced by domestic microgeneration to be sold.”
• “After the coming into force of the order made under subsection (1), a licensed electricity supplier may only supply electricity to a domestic customer if that supplier also undertakes to buy at market rate any electricity produced by that customer (or any group of customers of which that customer is a member) by microgeneration.”

View Mark Lazarowicz’s “Climate Change & Sustainable Energy Bill"