Ovo Energy to partner up with Cheshire East council

Ovo Energy has entered into partnership with Cheshire East Council, enabling the local authority to become the first to sell energy to its households and businesses in the UK since in over sixty years.

The new deal, branded as Fairerpower, could supply all of Cheshire East’s 170,000 households, including those on a prepayment meters, and businesses.

The partnership is the third formed as part of Ovo’s Community Interest Initiative which aims to set up partnerships with local organisations who wish to become energy companies themselves. But the five year deal is the first to be signed directly with a council, a spokesman for Cheshire East council told Utility Week.

Earlier this year Ovo signed a deal with community energy consortiums Plymouth Energy Community and the Sussex-based Community Energy South. Ovo said ultimately it hopes to secure 100 such deals across the country.

Ovo said customers who switched to Fairerpower as a supplier could save £300 pounds a year.

With an estimated 9.5 per cent of domestic customers in the area in fuel poverty, Chesire East Council Leader, Councillor Michael Jones, said: “The alleviation of fuel poverty is a key priority for us.”

OVO founder and CEO, Stephen Fitzpatrick said: “Households that currently have prepayment meters will have access to smart meters that will enable them to move on to much cheaper tariffs. Households that are least able to pay high bills are often on prepayment meters and moving these customers on to lower tariffs could help with efforts to tackle fuel poverty.”

“We launched OVO Communities because we want to provide a platform where people can come together, create their own systems, build their own innovations and create genuine partnerships. As our first local council partnership we are really excited to have the opportunity to literally put the power back into the hands of the people in the North West region.”