Powering Your Home with Community Energy
PILOT PROJECT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE RADCLIFFE SCHOOL
The Radcliffe School’s community-owned solar panels generate clean power every day. We’re inviting up to 15 local households to be part of an exclusive pilot project to use that power to help make savings on their energy bills.
- Save money when your energy use matches electricity generated by The Radcliffe School
- Track everything on your own dashboard
- Help to make the model work for more MK households to benefit in future
A recent change in energy rules means that when community energy projects like The Radcliffe School generate electricity, their Community Power Club members can receive savings by energy matching at those times.
We don’t yet know exactly how much you’ll save, but that’s what this 6-month pilot aims to find out.
To join, your household needs to:
Have a Radcliffe School student or teacher in it
...to be an official member of the school's Community Power Club
Use most electricity during daylight hours
...to match solar generation for potential bill savings!
Already have a smart meter installed
...to connect with your personal Power Club dashboard
Be willing to switch to the Community Power Tariff
...when your current deal allows (- which we can help you check)
Sign up in 3 easy steps
1. Register your interest
Register here as soon as possible. Take a couple of minutes to tell us a bit about your household using this form.
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2. We check you’re eligible
We do a quick check on your smart meter and help you switch to the Community Energy Tariff at a suitable time that ensures you avoid any penalties from your existing supplier.
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3. Join & switch
We set you up on the Community Power Club dashboard, matched to Radcliffe’s solar, so that everything is ready for launch in February 2027.
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We are committed to protecting your personal information and handling it securely. We never buy or sell personal data. By submitting this form, you consent to us using your contact details as outlined in our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time.
Why join the pilot
Save on your bills
Zero cost or hassle
Track the impact
Support your school
Community benefit
Frequently
asked questions
Who is eligible to take part?
Any MK household with students or staff at The Radcliffe School who meets the eligibility criteria below can apply.
You need to:
- Have a smart meter already installed at your home.
- Be willing to switch to the Community Power Tariff when your current energy deal allows it – which we’ll help you to do. (This is an Octopus Energy-backed tariff and costs the same as their standard fixed tariff.)
- Use the majority of your household electricity during daylight hours (when solar generation from the Community Power Club will be matched)
- Be willing to take part in a 6-month trial and give us occasional feedback.
We have 15 places available, which will be allocated to eligible households on a first come, first serve basis. This small number of participants is deliberately limited for us to trial together how the Club will work.
What if I don't have a smart meter?
We can only accept eligible households that have a working smart meter and are able to switch tariffs without penalty in time for the pilot launch in February 2027.
Note: With a smart meter, you can better manage your energy use and find ways to save energy in your home to bring down your bills. For more information about smart meters and how to book an installation, click here to visit the Smart Energy GB website.
Will I have to switch energy supplier?
Yes, when your current deal allows it, you’ll need to switch to a Community Power Club tariff that supports energy matching. We’ll check this with you before you commit to anything.
This will typically require moving to the Community Power Tariff, the only electricity tariff on the market that is 100% powered by community-generated electricity. This tariff is a “Your Co-op Energy” tariff, powered by Octopus Energy, and is competitive with the rates from other fixed energy tariffs.
Switching to the Community Power Tariff is simple and free to do. This means there’s no extra cost to be part of our pilot by making the switch, and every reason to support your local community energy group this way.
What happens if I am on a special tariff for my low-carbon home energy?
We understand that some domestic households won’t be suitable for this tariff if they have installed low-carbon technologies and are on special tariffs. In those cases, there will be a number of Octopus Energy flex tariffs that will be eligible as exceptions.
How will it work?
- If you’re eligible and have successfully switched to the Community Power energy tariff, you join the Club.
- You will have a personal dashboard where you can see when the school’s solar panels are generating power.
- If you use electricity using this time, for every matched unit of power you use with the solar, you will see a discount on your energy bill.
Do I need to do anything differently day-to-day?
No, just use your normal appliances. The more you use while the panels are generating, the more you could save.
This is why we’re looking for households that have high energy consumption during the day, as they will be the ones to benefit most from the school’s solar power being matched at those times.
How long will the pilot last?
The pilot runs for six months, from February to August 2027. Throughout that time, you’ll have full access to a personal online dashboard to track your household’s energy savings, which we’ll set up before the pilot starts.
This is very much a “we’re in it together” journey. Our team will be there to support you and we’ll want to hear from you along the way so that your feedback can be used to shape how the Community Power Club works going forward.
How much will I save?
Honestly, we don’t know yet. That’s what this pilot is here to find out. Savings will depend on how much of your usage overlaps with the school’s panels generating power, which will vary from household to household.
We’ll be open with members about results throughout the trial. As part of this, you’ll have access to a personal dashboard showing your energy usage, how much has been matched, and how the club is performing overall.
This is a genuinely new way of doing things, and we cannot promise exactly how much you’ll save. What we do know is that it keeps the value of The Radcliffe’s School’s community solar within their community, rather than it disappearing into the wider energy market.
What happens after the pilot ends?
From August 2027, when our pilot ends, the specific discounts you get on your bills directly from our Community Power Club pilot will stop, but your Community Power Tariff with Co-op Energy will continue as normal.
Later, when your fixed term Community Power Tariff comes to an end, you’re in exactly the same position as with any other energy tariff: you can simply stay on it, or move to another deal – whichever works best for you. Your Co-op Energy will always confirm your exact terms, including any exit fees, before you switch, so there are no surprises.
We’ll share what we’ve learned from the pilot with Radcliffe School and the MKCE Board, and if the pilot works as we hope, we’ll use it to explore extending it further with you. If successful, we’d also like to see how we can open the Community Power Club up to more schools, organisations, and community groups in our Community Energy network across Milton Keynes.
We hope you see savings on your electricity bills throughout the trial and that, when it ends, together we can help give more local families the chance to benefit in the same way – as pioneered by The Radcliffe School, and every local household in our pilot group!
Register your interest
Places are limited to 15 households maximum, allocated on a first come, first serve basis.
Register now while places last, and we’ll be in touch to check eligibility and answer any questions.
We are committed to protecting your personal information and handling it securely.
We never buy or sell personal data. By submitting this form, you consent to us using your contact details as outlined in our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time.