Community Energy Agents wanted in Northumberland

15th Dec 2015

Community Energy Agents wanted in Northumberland

The search is on for 20 ‘community energy agents’ in Northumberland to help local residents become more energy efficient and reduce the cost of their energy bills.

Community Action Northumberland (CAN) is working in partnership with the Community Action Partnership (CAP) - a joint initiative by charity National Energy Action (NEA) and British Gas - to help mobilise local communities to tackle fuel poverty.

Over the coming months, free training will be provided by NEA to people across Northumberland so they can learn all about energy usage and share the advice with others in their community.

During the free training sessions, the community energy agents will learn how to help people stay warm and well in their homes over winter, from how to improve energy efficiency in the home, to efficient use of household appliances and advice on energy bills. Once trained, they will work across the region to provide support to vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups.

The community energy agents will also help to distribute 6,000 energy monitors, offered free of charge by British Gas. The monitors, which display electricity usage in real time, will help local residents keep track of their usage, and encourage them to think about ways to run their homes more energy efficiently.

Christine Nicholls, community development officer at CAN, said: “Through our partnership with NEA and British Gas, we’ll be able to address fuel poverty at a grass-roots level by encouraging members of the public to share knowledge on energy efficient practices among their friends and family.” 

Maureen Fildes, project development co-ordinator at NEA, said: “We are delighted to be able to support such an innovative and exciting project locally. As a national charity based in the North East we’re very involved in providing energy efficiency training to people in the area. I urge local residents to get involved to help spread the information to their communities.”

Christine Tate, head of corporate responsibility at British Gas, said: “British Gas has an important role to play in tackling fuel poverty. The training offered by Community Action Northumberland gives people an opportunity to make a real difference in their community and will help more people in Northumberland to live in warm, energy-efficient homes.”

People who are interested in learning more about becoming a community energy agent and would like sign-up for the training should contact Christine Nicholls on 01289 304141 or email us via our contacts page.