Public Engagement with Community-Based Energy Service Provision: An Exploratory Case Study

Abstract

While the adoption of an energy services approach is regarded as an important aspect of a low carbon economy, potentially involving greater consumer participation in delivering energy services, relatively few energy service providers (e.g. Energy Service Companies: ESCOs) exist in the UK, and little research has been conducted upon the kinds of beliefs associated with such organisations by members of the public, including ESCO customers. This research begins to address this research gap by means of a case study of a refurbished, mixed-use development in Linthwaite, Yorkshire: Titanic Mill. The project is notable for claims of carbon neutrality and lower fuel bills, the installation of low carbon technologies and intention to create a resident-owned ESCO (Mill Energy Services). Case study methods included content analysis of materials promulgated by the developers and a group discussion with residents. These suggest that Titanic Mill is characterised by passive rather than active roles for residents in delivering energy services, at both individual and collective levels. Some residents already express disappointment with actual bills, despite developers' claims. It is concluded that co-provision is unlikely to be achieved unless all actors (developers, energy consultants and residents) recast how energy services are conceived and communicated, both visually and verbally. Residents' enthusiasm for rethinking demand feedback, as well as some individuals' willingness to participate in the ESCO, suggest a platform upon which a transformation towards collective co-provision of energy services could occur, in the uncertain and dynamic contexts of a gradually emerging sense of community, and fluctuating energy markets.