Nottingham City Council first stepped into the utilities market in 2015 with Robin Hood Energy. The company was the first project of its kind in the UK and was soon followed by Bristol Energy, launched by the city council in 2016.

There hasn't been a third council to follow the same path, but a number of local authorities across the country have since struck up white label partnerships with Nottingham. This means that while the two buy and sell energy and take care of customer service, the white label suppliers oversee marketing the new tariff to residents.