Organisations Urged To Cut Electricity Use

WWF Scotland want businesses to help cut emissions

Scottish businesses are being asked to lower their electricity consumption. 

WWF Scotland and Flexitricity would like to see universities, banks, supermarkets and data centers work to cut climate emissions and are urging political parties to get involved. 

They would like to see big businesses go beyond becoming energy efficiency by including measures to tap into the existing "invisible" power network of industrial, commercial and public sector organisations.

They hope that by doing this and urging political parties to commit to a national strategy to manage electricity demand, there will no need for new power stations. 

Gina Hanrahan, Climate and Policy Officer at WWF Scotland said:
"It's far cheaper to reduce our electricity demand than it is to build new power stations that are only used for short periods of time. If we want to cut consumer bills and lower climate emissions then demand reduction must be a central part of any future energy strategy. Scotland's political parties need to commit to a national strategy to help consumers and businesses cut their demand for electricity by at least 1 per cent a year to 2030.

"The public might be surprised to learn that their local supermarket, university or business could already be part of a small but rapidly expanding network of "virtual power plants". However, by using "smart grid" technology to temporarily lower the electricity consumption, unnoticeably, at hundreds of smaller locations we can avoid the need to switch on massive polluting fossil fuel power stations."

Alastair Martin, Chief Strategy Officer of Flexitricity said:
"We used to think of electricity purely in terms of nuclear, coal and gas.  It's now time to think of renewables, energy efficiency and demand response.  The technology needed to create a low-carbon, low-cost and secure electricity future is already there.  Scotland is already the European leader in demand response.  By committing to a comprehensive strategy to reduce energy demand, Scotland can increase its competitiveness while making best use of its indigenous renewable resources and alleviating fuel poverty."