London green energy firm to fight poverty, climate change

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched a new energy company that will provide 100 percent renewable electricity to customers, cut fuel bills and help make the capital a zero-carbon city.

One in 10 Londoners cannot afford to pay their energy bills, according to figures from the mayor's office, which said the new company London Power would offer a competitive tariff.

Any profits made will be reinvested into community projects that help tackle fuel poverty, fight climate change and achieve London's target of becoming a zero-carbon city.

"It is a disgrace that many Londoners pay too much to heat and light their homes," said Khan in a statement.

"London Power is a different kind of energy company. For the first time we have a fair, affordable, green energy company specially designed for Londoners."

London Power is run in partnership with British company Octopus Energy and will generate electricity from renewable sources including solar and wind, the statement said.

According to London Power, every year residents in the city spend an estimated 3.5 billion pounds ($4.5 billion) on gas and electricity household bills, and Khan wants to ensure that they can get fair energy prices.

More than one in 10 London households – more than a million people – are living in fuel poverty, the highest number since records began. One London borough, Newham, has the highest level of fuel poverty in England and six of its boroughs – Brent, Waltham Forest, Haringey, Redbridge, Ealing and Harrow – are in the worst 10 percent.

Nina Skorupska, CEO of the Renewable Energy Association, said in the statement: "London Power embodies the future of energy companies in the United Kingdom: localized, affordable and 100 percent renewable.

"The interest already shown demonstrates the growing appetite amongst consumers to feel a personalized connection to their energy, knowing where it comes from and who it is benefitting. By adopting this model, City Hall has shown themselves to be one of the pioneers in the move towards a Net Zero UK."

London is not the first British city to launch its own energy provider, reports Reuters.

In 2015 the English city of Nottingham created a not for-profit green energy company to tackle local fuel poverty – calling it Robin Hood Energy, after the legendary local hero famed for robbing the rich to pay the poor.

Britain was the first G7 country to commit to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and in 2019 produced more electricity from zero-carbon sources such as wind, solar and nuclear than from fossil fuel plants for the first time.