Made in Chesterfield: The sustainable energy company helping communities slash their bills

Don’t Do a Dodo was founded three years ago by Nigel Timperley, who lives in Chesterfield, and fellow director Charles Bradshaw-Smith.

They share over four decades of high-level energy industry experience, and decided to set up a community energy project to encourage people to move towards greener energy, while saving money in the process.

Nigel said this was especially important given the current cost of living crisis, which has seen energy bills increase dramatically.

“Just two years ago, if I asked someone about their energy bill, a lot of people wouldn’t even have known who their supplier was. Everyone knows now - and very often they have gone bust and they’ve been moved to another one.

“29 suppliers have gone bust in Britain in the last twelve months. There’s a crisis in the industry and people are feeling that in their wallets - this is going to get worse before it gets better and this is a chance for people to take action.

Don’t Do a Dodo works by encouraging people to join their local carbon club - the first of which was set up in Chesterfield, and meets at the Monkey Park Community Hub in Brampton.

There is no membership fee to join, and Nigel said that it allows residents to come together to secure discounts on sustainable energy products, helping them to reduce both their energy bills and carbon footprint.

“The basic idea is essentially bulk buying- we’ve extended this to communities buying low carbon and sustainable products, such as solar panels, home insulation and smart thermostats.

“We set a series of thresholds, so the more people participate, the greater discounts we can secure- the community gets a better deal and everyone wins.

“It’s about more than discounts though - it’s about communities acting together, and we’re very keen to set up local carbon clubs in towns across the country.

“Chesterfield, because I live here, seemed an obvious place to start. The idea is that Chesterfield will become a flagship, and we can copy and paste what we do here to other towns.”

Don’t Do a Dodo is also collaborating with Big Local Grassland Hasmoor, a community group which operates in Grassmoor and Hasland. They are working together on a project that will significantly reduce the costs of installing solar panels for those who are on lower incomes.

Nigel said that, in the first phase, ten homes would benefit, but he hoped that it would inspire people in the area to consider switching to more sustainable energy.

“Big Local wanted to do something in the low carbon space, and our goals are similar - in this case, making green energy affordable for people. Our first step is to have a pilot of ten homes with solar panels on their roofs, to demonstrate the benefits to local people, and we can secure discounts even at that level.

“We’re only using local installers - ours is Homeco, who are based at Sheepbridge, so it’s a very local model.

“When that’s done, we’re going to follow up with solar panels for 100 homes in September. Then, the idea is that it becomes self-sustaining. Hopefully people will see what a great deal their neighbours are getting, and how much they’re saving on their energy bills.”

Don’t Do a Dodo has been backed by major organisations, having received grant funding from Santander and support from the University of Sheffield. Nigel said that the company’s aim was to help the drive towards net-zero carbon emissions in Chesterfield - and that getting communities involved was crucial in achieving this.

“There’s a target of net-zero by 2030 in Chesterfield - that isn’t going to happen unless people take action, the council can’t do it all.

“With the energy crisis, suddenly people are interested and they want to participate. People want to know the things they can do that are most effective at bringing their bills down. It’s all changing very fast.

“This is about trying to galvanise a green revolution in our town.”

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