Flavia Bertram, Outreach Officer 

SELCE is a community energy enterprise (not-for-profit), with services, founded by residents for residents, covering the whole of South-East London  

How is SELCE making a difference to people, communities and the wider economy? 

South East London Community Energy (SELCE, pronounced ‘cell-see’) works to create a future where south east Londoners have affordable sustainable energy to meet their needs. We are part of a community energy movement that is committed to building a greener, fairer world. 

Founded by local volunteers concerned about the climate crisis, we work in partnership across Greenwich, Lewisham, Bromley and Bexley with local organisations and councils to help individuals, businesses and community organisations navigate the transition to sustainable energy and to make sure that no one gets left behind. 

We offer a range of impartial advice services to help people who are struggling with their energy bills, households who want to invest in greening their property, and organisations that are looking to become more sustainable. 

How can co-ops help tackle some of the biggest challenges facing society? 

From our point of view, the biggest challenges facing society are rooted in inequality of power; cooperatives offer a model of working that is participatory rather than prescriptive. And, in doing so, provide a different kind of foundation from which to build our society– one that is more equitable, flexible and responsive. 

For example, energy is fundamental to a decent quality of life. And, with energy generation in particular, we need to do a lot of work and make a lot of changes in how we generate and consume energy in order to ensure a good quality of life across the board. As we move further down the road of climate change, the system we use to power our lives needs to be less polluting and adjusted toward equality for vulnerable people – be they at the production or consuming ends of the process. Nationalised and market-led energy systems won’t do; there are too many opportunities for inequalities to fester. Instead, what we need (and what SELCE seeks to provide) is energy generated at a local level, owned and operated by local people to support a good quality of life defined on their own terms. So far, we’ve found that when people come together they tend to do the right thing in a thoughtful way. 

What do you love about co-ops and being part of a co-op in Royal Greenwich? 

We were nurtured at the Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency. Without the support of the co-operative community we would not have gotten where we are today. We are so proud to be part of a community that is making a difference in people’s lives in a practical and celebratory way. 

Find out more about SELCE.