Council-run energy provider CitizEn Energy, has been providing free low energy LED light bulbs for installation in vacant council homes in Southampton, helping new tenants save money on their energy and reduce their carbon footprint.
LED bulbs are much more energy-efficient and can reduce electricity bills. They last much longer than older style light bulbs and the average running cost of an LED light bulb is around 10% of an old-style light bulb of the same brightness. 17 council homes have been installed with 96 lightbulbs to date, and Southampton City Council plans to install lightbulbs in 100 homes overall.
Installations, which are being carried out by the council’s Housing Operations Electrical Team, have been paused during the Covid-19 lockdown, with the team focused on urgent and essential work only, but will resume once government guidelines allow normal service to continue.
CitizEn Energy is Southampton City Council’s green energy provider. It offers fair, competitive gas and electricity tariffs to residents — and any surplus profit is reinvested back into local projects.
As well as offering competitive tariffs on green energy, CitizEn Energy offer impartial advice on getting the cheapest energy for your household, to make sure no one is paying more for energy than they should be.
Councillor Steve Leggett, Cabinet Member for Green City and Place, said: “We set ambitious, challenging goals to help tackle climate change, this includes being a carbon neutral council by 2030. Our Green City Plan published in March, details our approach and principles for the next 10 years. We are committed to in excess of 60 activities that we are going to deliver over the next three years to ensure we achieve our vision of being a cleaner, greener, healthier and more sustainable council.
“CitizEn Energy is a big part of that and this initiative is one way we can work to reduce the impact of climate change in Southampton — as well as helping residents to get competitive deals on the price they pay for energy.”
