There is a way to bring energy prices down – and we need your help to do it right now
by Nick Rosen
We all know households across the UK are at the mercy of an energy system dominated by large power stations and an expensive, centralised grid. The result? Soaring bills, unfair pricing, and millions trapped in fuel poverty. But there is a better way – one that is already working in communities around the world.
That way is small-scale power: local generation, shared directly between neighbours, supported by flexible microgrids. With the right rules in place, this could mean cheaper energy, stronger communities, and a fairer market. Small is powerful.
Why small power matters
The government’s current plan focuses almost entirely on giant new power stations and costly grid upgrades. These may sound impressive, but they lock us into a model where energy is always bought from the centre and sold back at inflated rates to finance dividends for big investors. Just like the water companies, UK power companies are largely owned by transnational companies. Consumers remain passive, paying whatever the system demands.
By contrast, small-scale generation – solar on rooftops, local wind turbines, battery storage, even small hydro – can flip the script. If people are allowed to trade directly with each other, they can sell surplus electricity to neighbours for more than the grid would pay them, but for less than the grid would charge those neighbours. Everybody wins: the producer gets a fair price, the consumer gets a cheaper bill.
This is not pie-in-the-sky thinking. It is already happening in parts of Europe and America, where peer-to-peer energy markets are being trialled successfully. All we need is for the UK to remove the legal and regulatory barriers that stand in the way.
Microgrids: energy resilience – plus savings
Imagine a cluster of homes, a block of flats, or a village, linked together with local solar panels, batteries, and smart controls. The microgrid can supply those homes with electricity at a much lower cost than drawing everything from the national grid, while still connecting back to the larger system for backup when needed.
Microgrids don’t just reduce costs. They also make communities more resilient. In the face of rising energy prices, supply shocks, or even power outages, a microgrid keeps the lights on and the bills affordable. The technology exists. The will in many communities exists. What’s missing is the government’s willingness to let small compete with big.
Levelling the playing field
Right now, the government has announced support for new large-scale power stations, but has failed to provide a level playing field for small power projects. That is why Fuel Poverty Action and many other organisations are calling on Great British Energy and the UK Parliament to act.
Off-Grid has two urgent proposals:
- Great British Energy must support small-scale generation and peer-to-peer energy trading, to unlock cheaper power for households across the country.
- Parliament must adopt an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. This amendment ensures that large numbers of small power stations – from solar rooftops to village-scale turbines – can compete on equal terms with the large plants the government has already prioritised.
Without these changes, millions of people will remain trapped in a system designed to benefit the few at the expense of the many.
Bringing prices down for everyone
At the heart of these proposals is a simple truth: when households and communities can generate, share, and sell power locally, everyone’s bills fall.
- A household with solar panels should be able to sell their excess electricity directly to the family next door, at a price that works for both sides.
- A community microgrid should be able to provide reliable, low-cost power to hundreds of homes, bypassing some of the grid’s most expensive charges.
- Local energy projects should not be forced to jump through impossible regulatory hoops while giant corporations receive government backing.
By unleashing small power, we can reduce fuel poverty, cut carbon emissions, and create a fairer energy system.
What you can do
This is where you come in. Politicians will only act if they feel pressure from the people they represent. That means we need as many of you as possible to write to your MP today.
- Tell them to support Off-Grid’s proposals to Great British Energy.
- Tell them to back our amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
- Tell them you want an energy system where small is powerful, and where ordinary people can benefit directly from cheaper, fairer electricity.
We can build an energy system that works for households, not just for corporations. We can bring bills down, tackle fuel poverty, and give people back control. But we need your voice to make it happen.
Tell them to back small power and help us bring energy prices down for good.
Small is powerful. Together, we are unstoppable.
DIGESTED READ
- Small is powerful – and it can bring bills down now. We’re calling on MPs to back Off-Grid’s proposals to Great British Energy and our amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
- Together these changes will unleash local power stations and microgrids, cutting costs for households.
- Write to your MP today – your voice can make the difference.
Nick Rosen is a professional trouble-maker in the world of energy. An award-winning documentary maker and author, he’s spent decades shining a harsh light on the forces that keep people locked into overpriced, fossil-fuelled, grid-tied dependence. His books How to Live Off-Grid and Off the Grid became unlikely handbooks for everyone from eco-dreamers to survivalists — but the subtext is always the same: the system is broken, and ordinary people are paying the price.
Rosen is also the founder of off-grid.net, a digital campfire where 80,000 monthly visitors come for news, maps, and ideas about energy independence. His journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The Times, Washington Post and countless others, but his true focus is activism: lobbying government, confronting utilities, and helping communities wrest back control of their energy.
Whether in Devon fields, Nigerian villages, or Whitehall committee rooms, Rosen argues that energy should be a right, not a luxury. He delights in puncturing greenwash and exposing the absurdities of “Big Grid” thinking — all while sketching credible, practical alternatives like microgrids, prosumer systems, and radical local ownership.
In short: if you’re cold, broke, and fed up with excuses, he’s on your side.
