Press Release

17 April 2018

Future energy needs in Brae

Do you have thoughts about what will be needed to improve future transport and heating needs and costs in the Brae area?

Local Energy Scotland is conducting a study into energy needs in Brae, being carried out with the support of Delting Community Council. Brae is one of four communities in the Highlands and Islands being supported by the European Regional Development Fund to carry out a study under the COBEN project (“COmmunity BENefits”). The other areas are Oban, Barra and Vatersay, and Drumnadrochit.

A Local Energy Plan for Brae will identify ways to reduce energy costs and strengthen the local economy. For example, it is hoped that people will be able to live in warmer and cheaper to run homes, and that local businesses can be more competitive through lower energy costs.

Some targets of the plan would be to:

• raising awareness about how householders can save money from heating their homes
• tackling the high level of fuel poverty in Brae
• developing local energy projects
• gaining support for funding bids to deliver the above targets.

Part of the Local Energy Plan study is to examine the possibility of Brae moving away from a centralised energy supply to more community owned enterprises, which could provide cheaper energy for their local area through the use of renewables.

Anyone with views is encouraged to comment on the online survey which is open until midnight on Sunday 22nd April 2018 - http://bit.do/BraeLocalEnergyPlan

Alastair Cooper, Chair of the Local Energy Plan steering group, and Chair of Delting Community Council, commented:

“We know that Brae has a high fuel poverty rate with some 58% of homes paying more than 10% of their income on home heating. Businesses have high overheads in their energy costs and local public transport is limited, with fuel costs continuing to rise. We hope to be able to find solutions through the development of a Local Energy Plan for the Brae area.

“We’re really keen to hear from people living in Brae who can give us their thoughts on local energy use and what would be best to help reduce their energy costs. The survey responses we receive will help us to develop funding bids that will help to make Brae sustainable in the long term.”