Causeway Coast and Glens

This Council had had no idea of their income from renewable energy projects by way of rates. Department of Finance provided us with this information at ~£4,062,000pa . Renewables overall provided 5.15% of this Councils income which is the second best in NI after Fermanagh and Omagh where the figure is ~9% of overall rates. See data below. (see NI Council revenue league table here)

In terms of their internal operations, they were better than most NI Councils. In addition to an income of ~£138,000pa from methane gas recovered from an old municipal dump and ~£50,000 income from PV, wind or other renewables installed on their premises or land., they has savings from solar thermal or heat pumps of ~£32,000.  However this does not appear to be part of an organised plan to transition the Councils operations to the ‘New Economy‘.

It is clear that when the transition in energy sources is complete in N.I., there will be an average of ~£20 million pa in rates for each of the 11 Councils in N.I..  But Causeway Coast and Glens do not have a plan to realise their share of what will be the fastest growing area in rates income over the next 10 years and thus unlikely to reap the full benefit of the transition in savings and in additional income or local well-paid jobs for young people like us.

We have learned a lot these last 2 years. We now know the full potential of Councils in Northern Ireland to benefit their ratepayers in dealing with Climate Change. These powers are considerable, even though they are not as extensive as Councils in Britain and the Republic of Ireland.  N.I. Councils have, collectively MORE power than the Northern Irish Regional Assembly at Stormont in Belfast.  SEE HERE for the 2023 template where we are more thoroughly and extensively vetting councils. 

How do we know this information?

In Northern Ireland, we found that the Department of Finance was very helpful, providing a full breakdown of rates by council on each type of renewable energy project. Here are the 3 freedom of information replies we got from them.

1. Rates for every type of renewable energy project by Council
2. Rates for fossil fuel generators by Council (no nuclear in NI)
3. Overall rates for each Council area.

Council’s Reply

See Causeway Coast and Glens’s reply; Council’s response.

Data Summary

See the breakdown summary of the Council here: