CHESHIRE West and Chester Council has resolved to support a bill that would increase domestically generated clean energy, helping to boost local economies.

The proposed new law, known as the Local Electricity Bill, is supported by a cross-party group of 281 MPs.

Cheshire West and Chester Council now joins the group of 91 local authorities across the UK who have resolved to support the bill.

If made law, it would create a new ‘Right to Local Supply’ of energy that would empower communities to sell locally generated electricity directly to local households and businesses.

Currently, customers can only purchase electricity from nationally licensed utilities.

The bill’s supporters say this means money people use to pay their energy bills is not helping to rebuild local economies and local clean energy infrastructure.

Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, councillor Louise Gittins, said: "The Local Electricity Bill will empower and enable new community energy companies to sell clean energy that they generate directly to local people, providing our residents with more options.

"The revenues received by these new local renewable energy providers would be used to help improve the local economy and local services and facilities."

Deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for environment, highways and strategic transport, councillor Karen Store, said: "The borough’s Climate Emergency Response Plan states that to achieve our target of becoming carbon neutral by 2045 will require a significant increase in renewable energy.

"Community-scale renewable energy has real potential to help us achieve this target and boost our local economy."

Power for People’s director, Steve Shaw, said: "We thank Cheshire West and Chester Council for supporting the Local Electricity Bill, with special thanks to Councillor Karen Shore for proposing the successful motion.

"If made law, the bill would unleash the huge potential for new community-owned clean energy infrastructure, making our energy system more robust and boosting local economies, jobs, services and facilities in Cheshire and in communities across the country."

On July 1, department for business, energy and industrial strategy minister, Amanda Solloway MP, said of the bill that the Government, 'agreed with its broad intentions', but not the detail.

The campaign continues.