The association is one of the founding members of Our Power Energy, a non-profit distributing subsidiary of Our Power Community Benefits Society, which has ambitious plans to sell heat and power to tenants in 200,000 homes by 2020.

Our Power currently has over 35 housing association and local authority members and more members have registered an interest in joining at the next Our Power event in September.

Bill Banks, chief executive with Kingdom Housing Association and an Our Power Board Member, said: “We are very pleased that Kingdom has been one of the founding members of Our Power. Increasing energy costs continue to be a problem for our tenants and Our Power will provide an opportunity for our customers to reduce costs and receive an improved service from an energy supplier.”

Bill added: “Housing associations and local authorities have a long track record of collaborative working and Our Power is an excellent example of the benefits that can come from a successful partnership project.”

The Scottish Government and Social Investment Scotland recently confirmed a £3.5 million package of funding which will allow Our Power to move further towards market later this year.

Alister Steele, chairman of Our Power, said “Our Power can now fully focus on market entry and delivering a utility offer to households disadvantaged most in the energy market. This is a perfect example of strong multi-organisation collaboration to get a better deal for our customers and are absolutely delighted to have agreed a funding package with Scottish Government and Social Investment Scotland’s Social Growth Fund.”

The company will enter the market as an Ofgem licensed supplier of gas and electricity to provide lower cost energy to the tenants and communities of the member organisations. It expects to save customers up to ten per cent on their household utility bills compared to standard commercial tariffs.

Our Power Members