AGM 2015
The second PEC Renewables AGM was held on 11th November 2015.
On Wednesday 11 November 2015, we held our second Annual General Meetings for both Plymouth Energy Community and PEC Renewables in Plymouth. There was an encouraging turnout and a huge thank-you to all members who participated.
PEC Renewable’s Chairman, Dave Garland started proceedings with a presentation celebrating PEC Renewables’ achievements over the last year, current projects and aspirations for the future.
Members officially received the Directors’ report and Audited Financial statements for the year ended 30th June 2015.
Bromhead Chartered Accountants were reappointed as the auditors of the company for the ensuing year and directors were authorised to set their remuneration.
Tracey Sherston (Plymouth Community Homes representative) was re-elected to join the PEC Renewables Board by show of hands in accordance with the election policy.
An ordinary resolution was passed to approve the payment of interest on members share capital at a rate of 6%, such payment to be made only in relation to share capital invested pursuant to the first PEC Renewables share offer pursuant to the prospectus dated 24 Feb 2014, with interest payments calculated on the basis of the period 23 April 2014 – 30 June 2015.
Questions & answers
What are you planning after the array in Ernesettle?
Last month we managed to pre-register/pre-accredit 1MW worth of potential schools and community buildings before the deadline no longer allowing this. After Ernesettle, we will consider those and how we can build them. Not all will be feasible and we will need to build them before December 2016 but we will try!
We have also already identified six potential schools that could benefit from a biomass fuel scheme. We will have more detail on this project once the government sets out the Renewable Heat Incentive subsidy during the spending review.
The market is changing considerably and we expect different opportunities will come out of that.
Do the schools pay for the solar installations?
The solar rooftop installations are provided free of charge to the host organisations. They then pay PEC Renewables for the power used that generated by the solar installations, this is charged at approximately half price of that charged by standard suppliers (5p/kW).
Can you explain the differing performance of current installations?
Eggbuckland shows the best performance against what was anticipated, this is explained by the fact that it was an experimental installation and therefore low generation would have been forecast. It was built east to west, meaning that it gets the maximum sun in the morning and evening on a smaller array.
We have had a number of issues contributing to those that are underperforming and we are working hard to ensure that those sites amend their energy consumption patterns to ensure more is consumed on site and receiving the most benefit.
I receive a lot of paperwork from PEC, is this necessary?
We encourage as many of our members as possible to save on paper and postage and to receive correspondence by email, however for some this is not possible. Whilst some documentation is required by the laws governing our Community Benefit Society, we also aim to include ALL members in the opportunities available to them.
How do PEC Renewables generate an income from the solar installations?
There are three main sources of income to PEC Renewables:
- Through power sales to host organisations
- By selling surplus energy to the grid
- By receiving the government’s Feed-in Tariff subsidy
Do you have any plans for further share offers?
Unfortunately, the changes in EIS tax relief mean that we can’t use the original business model for Ernesettle as planned. It is therefore unlikely we will be able to offer a community share raise and opportunity for local ownership at this point in time. No PEC Renewables finance has been used in the project to date; Communities for Renewables CIC have been supporting the project on a no win, no fee basis and funding was secured from UCEF and PCC’s Social Investment Fund for the development and planning phases. PEC and PCC have provided staff time for the project development. We are now looking to sell the project to partners who will ensure that community benefit is still generated. We could still potentially offer another community share raise for the pre-accredited roofs but this is a fluid situation due to the uncertainty around central government policy changes.
What has become of your partnership with OVO Energy?
Over the last year PEC have been working with OVO Energy on an opportunity to offer Plymouth residents a locally-owned and controlled energy tariff. The opportunity to set up a local energy supply business where surpluses are put back into local fuel poverty and renewable energy projects is an exciting one. We remain committed to exploring how this could be realised, but have concluded that the OVO model is not a good fit for us at this time. We are monitoring emerging local energy tariff markets closely and are exploring a number of models which could enable local tariffs in the future. We have learnt a lot about the energy supply market and the role that we could play in the future. It will require strong partnerships with local organisations; both Plymouth City Council and Plymouth Community Homes are very supportive of the project.
What are you planning after the array in Ernesettle?
Last month we managed to pre-register/pre-accredit 1MW worth of potential schools and community buildings before the deadline no longer allowing this. After Ernesettle, we will consider those and how we can build them. Not all will be feasible and we will need to build them before December 2016 but we will try!
We have also already identified six potential schools that could benefit from a biomass fuel scheme. We will have more detail on this project once the government sets out the Renewable Heat Incentive subsidy during the spending review.
The market is changing considerably and we expect different opportunities will come out of that.
How many solar installation companies do you use?
We have worked with four installers based in the south-west: Sungift, Clean Earth, Hyde Park Electrical and Group 5D.
AGM Documentation
Read the official minutes of the event.