SELLING locally produced renewable energy should be much easier than it currently is, according to campaigners.

Costs for community groups or small local businesses to build new local energy generators — like solar panel farms — are currently prohibitively expensive according to Power for People.

The campaign group are calling for changes to the law to help make it cheaper.

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Campaigners say that community-scale renewable energy is being blocked by “unfair regulations and hugely disproportionate costs”. So lots of renewables, that could and should be built, are not.

But the law could soon change, making it easier and cheaper for community groups, local businesses and councils to start generating energy — Power for People has drafted a local electricity bill, aiming to make the costs and complexity much less for smaller generators.

The bill has already got cross-party support from 116 MPs, including Bill Cash, Layla Moran, Mhairi Black, and Harriet Harman. In West Berkshire, councillors will vote on March 3 whether to support the bill, and also write to and ask local MPs to give their support as well.

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Councillor Adrian Abbs (Lib Dem, Wash Common) put forward the motion for West Berkshire Council to get behind the campaign to change the law.

He said: “There’s a barrier to getting into the power generation game. The amount you get paid tends to be very small, with licenses quite expensive. It’s not much of an incentive.

“This bill makes it easier — so you can set yourself up and sell direct to people, and the incentive is much stronger.”

Separately, the council is planning on spending £3.5 million to build two new solar panel farms, over the next three years. This follows a pilot involving £750,000 worth of solar panels installed on council-owned buildings, which is due to be completed this month. 

If the costs of setting up new energy generation were cheaper, this could create even more “significant opportunities” for councils to provide locally generated renewable energy, according to Cllr Abbs. 

He added: “Revenues received by councils that became local renewable electricity providers could be used to help fund local greenhouse gas emission reduction measures, and to help improve local services and facilities.” 

People living in Newbury, Thatcham and the surrounding villages can already buy discounted solar panels to install on their roofs from the community scheme called solar streets, organised by the West Berkshire Climate Action Network.