MAY 2018

UTILITIES
Discounted energy for Midlands residents thanks to co-op partnership
p Gary Fulford (CEO, WHG), Eddie Hughes
(chair, WHG), David Bird (CEO, Co-op Energy)
and Paul Dockerill (director of energy, WHG)
Midlands landlord WHG has teamed up
with Co-op Energy to provide its 40,000
residents with discounted gas and
electricity. The partnership will offer a
new tariff, FuelGood Simplicity, to all of
WHG’s 21,000 homes across the region.
“WHG has developed this competitive
tariff with Co-op Energy to encourage
our customers to secure better energy
deals,” said Gary Fulford, WHG’s group
chief executive.
“We are already seeing the benefit
of this partnership, as a number of our
customers have signed up to the tariff and
are saving money on their energy bills.”
The scheme guarantees WHG customers
a discount on Co-op Energy’s standard
variable tariff. It will cost customers £971
a year, based on average usage, which it
claims is cheaper than any of the standard
variable tariffs offered by the UK’s 10
largest suppliers.
Customers who qualify for the
government’s Warm Home Discounts can
also save an additional £140 a year.
David Bird, CEO of Co-op Energy, which
is part of the Midcounties Co-operative,
was at the launch event at the housing
group’s offices in Walsall.
“Partnering with WHG to offer this
unique tariff is just one of the ways
we are working with communities
to alleviate fuel poverty,” he said.
“Not only do residents get a reliable,
competitive price for their energy – with
100% renewable electricity as standard
– but by taking up this tariff, they also
help us support WHG’s work to reinvest in
homes across the region.”
Meanwhile Co-op Energy has also made
an offer to acquire Flow Energy Limited.
If accepted, the proposed deal will see
the energy provider acquire 130,000
more customers.
“As part of the Midcounties
Co-operative, Co-op Energy is a strong,
independent supplier that is committed to
acting in the interests of its customers and
members,” said Mr Bird.
“Our proposal to acquire Flow Energy
Limited will continue to build our
movement by welcoming a large number
of new customers into what is already the
largest member-owned supplier in the UK
energy market.”
ECONOMY
Can you help to build a new economy? New crowdfunding campaign
Not-for-profit community organisation
Stir To Action has launched a
crowdfunding campaign to support a
national programme of workshops to help
communities build a “new economy that
works for everyone”.
The organisation, which also publishes
quarterly magazine STIR, runs technology
accelerators, and supports community
economic development, wants to
raise £12,000 to cover the costs of the
new programme.
The year-long scheme will include
practical workshops, three-day
residentials, mentoring, and live
crowdfunding. Participants will discover
new economic tools and models and
receive training from facilitators with
decades of experience.
The workshops will look at worker
co-operatives and explore how
community wealth building approaches
could benefit local economies. They will
look at understanding of racial justice and
economic history, see the economy from
a gender perspective, and enable you to
develop your communication strategy for
a new project, campaign, or organisation.
Stir to Action says: “We talk about
making ‘communities stronger’ and
creating a ‘fairer economy.’ But these
approaches are still struggling to
significantly impact our society and
economy – 80% of the UK’s freelancers
are living in poverty, black African
women earn 19.6% less than white British
men, 27 pubs are closing every week as
part of a wider decline in community
assets, and local authority cuts are
disproportionately affecting women and
black and minority ethnic communities
across the UK.”
It hopes the new programme will
continue its work to help build an
alternative economy. Pledges to the
campaign over the next five weeks will
support subsidised workshop places,
local workshop venues, programme
design, a mentoring network, and provide
resources to engage new communities.
If it hits the target, its programme will
train a 1,000 people in three cities —
Bristol, Oxford, and London — and build
a community of change-makers.
There are also rewards to thank
supporters – who can book an advance
place on a workshop, or be an ‘enabler’
and pledge to create subsidised places.
And there is the chance to have dinner
with Carne Ross, a former British diplomat
who resigned over the Iraq War, and
whose film The Accidental Anarchist aired
on the BBC’s Storyville.
Or you could the Financial Heretic, Brett
Scott, for pizza and to talk about activist
hedge funds, blockchain technology,
mutual credit, and the world of
alternative finance.
12 | MAY 2018