Michael Sheen makes Edinburgh visit to encourage communities to share in Our Power
Actor and community activist visits innovative energy supplier.
Welsh actor and community activist Michael Sheen has visited the Edinburgh headquarters of Our Power to learn more about the innovative approach to supplying fairer and more affordable energy and to support the work of the social enterprise.
Michael is well-known for screen roles such as Frost/Nixon, The Damned United and Twilight and has an active interest in community empowerment and the social economy, as the ambassador for many local, UK and international charities including UNICEF, Social Enterprise UK and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.
Michael and his team are touring the UK to learn from social entrepreneurs, activists, policy makers and general co-operators working together to deliver a stronger social economy. The aim of the visit is to bring good ideas back to Wales and to enable partners to learn from Scotland’s journey in working together on strategies and delivery. Our Power being one such initiative, with its ground-breaking scalable solution to fuel poverty.
Launched in 2015, and backed by the Scottish Government, Our Power is an energy supplier created by social housing providers that aims to make energy fairer for all members of society. As the first energy supplier in the UK to operate on a profit-for-purpose, the company is 100% asset-locked, with all surpluses generated reinvested to benefit customers and their communities.
Formed of 53 member housing associations and local authorities, Our Power offers one tariff, irrespective of how a customer chooses to pay, whether ‘Pay As You Go’ or Direct Debit. Over the next few months, Our Power will announce a number of new offers to accelerate its growth including the launch of a green tariff.
During his visit, Sheen heard about the work of Our Power to narrow the gap in fuel inequality in the UK and met members of the team.
Alister Steele, Chair and Founder of Our Power, said:
“It was a real privilege to welcome Michael to Our Power and share with him our journey and plans to operate at significant scale across Scotland and the rest of the UK. Michael is a true champion of social enterprise in the UK, and we benefitted from his knowledge and enthusiasm, and hopefully we can continue to share ideas to make social enterprise an important part of a more equal economic growth.”
Pictured: Michael Sheen meets Carron Garmony, Graeme Bruce, Marc Murphy and Alister Steele of Our Power,