Community Energy England today says in a statement that it believes the party’s plans published yesterday “have the potential to transform Britain’s energy system through local action on climate which benefits local people”.

Labour’s promises unveiled yesterday back the party’s earlier pledges towards local energy. They include making targeted energy grants to local authorities from a £600 million pot, and low interest loans made direct to community groups from a pool of £400 million.

The party’s manifesto for 4 July declares “Local power generation is an essential part of the energy mix and reduces pressures on the transmission grid. Labour will deploy more distributed production capacity through our Local Power Plan. Great British Energy will partner with energy companies, local authorities, and co-operatives to install thousands of clean power projects, through a combination of onshore wind, solar, and hydropower projects.

“We will invite communities to come forward with projects, and work with local leaders and devolved governments to ensure local people benefit directly from this energy production.”

In its statement Community Energy England endorses probable energy secretary Ed Miliband’s view that such backing can “kick-start thousands of transformational local energy project”.

“Labour’s Local Power Plan offers grants for local authorities and low interest loans for community energy organisations to do new local, community-led and owned clean energy projects“, the CEE’s statement says.

“Over five years, this could deliver 8 gigawatts of solar and onshore wind – the equivalent of 2.5 nuclear power stations – enough to power 4.35 million homes”.

CEE chief executive Emma Bridge went on, “We welcome the Labour manifesto’s plan to grow our fantastic community energy sector and unlock huge benefits for local people.

“Community energy projects deliver 12 to 13 times the benefit of commercial energy installations. So they are uniquely suited to engage local people to participate in the energy transformation. Labour’s Local Power Plan is a win, win, win for communities, local economies and the country,” said Bridge

In 2021, the Environmental Audit Committee advised the government that “due to the urgency of the climate crisis and the vital roles communities will have to play in reaching net zero, it is essential… to support the long-term growth of community energy across the UK.” Chris Skidmore MP in his Review of the Government’s Net Zero Policies recommended that the government “turbocharge community energy.”

“The Labour manifesto and their Local Power Plan demonstrate that the party understands that empowering people and communities to take local climate action, which will also benefit local people, is essential to achieving net zero.

“We are pleased to see real backing for community energy in the Liberal Democrat and Green manifestos too”, noted Bridge.

“All parties with plans to meet the scale of the climate challenge share the consensus that community energy is crucial for any serious climate policy programme.

“We are disappointed that the Conservative manifesto, despite stretching to 80 pages, does not mention community energy at all. The Conservatives’ manifesto doubles down on commitments to invest more in fossil fuels, including new gas power stations, while continuing to block renewable energy developments”.

Bridge says restrictions on new onshore wind turbines have effectively stopped new ones being built in England, with just a handful of new turbines being built per year.  The Conservatives’ programme as set out in its manifesto would slow down progress towards net zero and cement our dependence on fossil fuels for years to come”.

Personal voting intentions differ among CEE officials, as influenced by the parties’ varying stances in relation to the burgeoning co-operative sector.

This week CEE policy manager Duncan Law shared with a public meeting of south London co-op SE24 Community Energy his intention to vote Green, due to their support for local, accountable actions in response to the climate emergency.

Former Conservative energy minister Chris Skidmore last week told a London solar conference that he was ‘politically homeless’, after he resigned his Bristol seat last year in disappointment at the Sunak’s administration’s foot-dragging over green issues.   The West County former MP told delegates that the future of energy is local, citing the achievements of co-ops such as Bath and West Community Energy.

Outside the activities of its volunteer-run co-operatives, today’s CEE statement welcomes Labour’s pledge to double onshore wind capacity by 2030. It notes that new onshore turbines in England have been held back since David Cameron’s Conservatives introduced a de facto ban nine years ago.

Interest declared:  The present author has for several years invested in and volunteered for several community energy co-ops across London and the South East.

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The npower Business Solutions Foundation is open to applications from not-for-profit organisations such as local charities, community interest companies and educational institutions that are located within a 50 mile radius of its offices in Solihull and Leeds.

Projects considered for funding include energy efficiency and carbon reduction measures, waste reduction and recycling initiatives or projects that improve outdoor environments. Depending on the organisation and nature of the project, three levels of funding bands ranging from £10,000 to £100,000 will be available to apply for.

Chief operating officer Anthony Ainsworth commented: “At nBS, we have always supported causes that mean something to us as a company, our colleagues and our customers. The npower Business Solutions Foundation takes this a step further, allowing us to directly support projects that will make a real difference in our local communities.

“We welcome applications from any relevant organisation, from local schools to sports groups to community arts centres to charities, who have struggled to secure funding to turn their plans into reality. These could range from improving the sustainability of their premises through energy efficiency, to creating a new space that encourages responsible business or supports wellbeing.

“We will consider a wide range of projects, so please get in touch to find out more and whether your organisation is eligible to apply.”

Applications to the npower Business Solutions Foundation and the allocation of funding will be managed by Charis, an independent organisation specialising in the distribution of financial and product support to vulnerable individuals and community projects.

More information, including how to apply to the npower Business Solutions Foundation, is available at npowerbusinesssolutions.com/foundation.

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The EST will consider granting cash to projects across England, Scotland and Wales, if they support households most at risk from cold and high energy bills, or advance innovative services around home energy use, or address carbon emissions reduction.

Community interest companies, co-operative societies and community benefit societies are among potentially eligible recipients.

Graham Ayling, senior project manager at the EST, said: “With energy prices remaining high, we encourage community and charity groups that work with struggling or vulnerable people to apply for funding through the Main or Small Project Fund.

“We’ve seen the positive work that such local groups do in helping those most in need, with projects ranging from energy advice supporting vulnerable people, to research aimed at making sure the needs of elderly and disabled people are met by new energy technologies.

Ayling went on: “This funding will also aid projects which address the climate emergency, helping to deliver net zero in ways that leave no one behind and help everyone to share in the benefits”.

The Energy Redress Scheme is sourced from Ofgem’s fines levied on energy retailers who breach their supply licences. Since 2018, it has awarded over £100 million, benefitting more than 530 projects across England, Scotland & Wales.

Cathryn Scott, Ofgem’s director for enforcement and emerging issues, backed the latest EST offer. She added:

“Protecting customers is at the heart of Ofgem’s mission, so when we make energy companies pay for falling short of the standards we set, it’s only right that customers should be the ones who benefit.

“Since the Redress Fund was established, more than £100 million has gone to projects helping households who might be struggling with energy bills. This latest round of funding is another opportunity to get funds to communities that need it the most so I would encourage organisations to apply.”

The ERS’ funding streams are:

• Main Fund, with £13.25 million. Aimed at projects seeking grants between £50,000 and £2 million supporting vulnerable households.
• Small Project Fund, with £750,000. For projects seeking grants between £20,000 and £49,999.
• Innovation Fund, containing £3 million. Benefitting projects set to innovate products or services for households. Applicants can apply for sums between £20,000 and £1 million.
• Carbon Emissions Reduction Fund, containing £3 million. Aimed at projects that will reduce UK carbon emissions and empower households to reduce their carbon footprint. Applicants can apply for grants between £20,000 and £1 million.

For more details, check here.     Applications close on Tuesday 20 February.

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That’s the view of the Greater London Assembly’s environment committee, as its latest report commits it to more support for citizen-controlled green power.

Around 30 volunteer energy groups – almost one per borough – at present deliver and fund solar schemes on London’s community roofs, including schools.  Expanding the sector could power a minimum 350,000 homes in the capital, experts believe, if choke points on array siting and funding are lifted.

Each citizen co-operative funnels offtake revenues to fund advice schemes helping London’s millions of fuel-poor.

Community energy is defined by the Greater London Authority as ‘collective action taken by a self-organised network of people with a common agenda to reduce, manage or generate energy’. 

City Hall’s environment councillors view the Mayor’s GLA-level Community Energy Fund, with its already committed £10 million, as a success in building volunteer skills and yielding power. But snags remain.

Fewer curbs imposed by borough-level planners in siting arrays in conservation areas and old buildings, need too to be signalled from City Hall, the report argues.

London’s richest borough, Kensington and Chelsea, blazes a trail, GLA councillors believe. In March 2022 its planners ordered consent for solar panels should be presumed on most Grade II and most Grade II* listed buildings without the need for listed building consent.

For a decade Community Energy London (CEL) has shared expertise between neighbourhood volunteers, representing them at City Hall.

Two years ago it combined the Mayor’s Solar Opportunity Map with more data on London’s community buildings.  The result was a city-wide ‘Solar Potential Map’, identifying locations where more than 1GW of green community electricity could easily flourish.

Hackney and Southwark lead drives to earmark borough-level cash in support of volunteers investing in citizen-controlled solar.  Such local funds must grow, the GLA body recommends, aided by City Hall. Revenues from local carbon offsetting should be their best source, backed by examples of best practice.

Central government, led by Dulwich-educated energy secretary Claire Coutinho MP, should step up too, says the report, expanding Whitehall’s community energy fund, tasked to strengthen co-ops in the capital and beyond.

Labour AM Léonie Cooper, environment chair at the London Assembly, pictured, said: “Community energy projects give groups of people the opportunity to deliver and support energy resourcing in their communities.

“Not only do they enable increased energy supply, they help educate residents on the importance of responsibly sourced energy in the light of a climate emergency.

“Tackling fuel poverty must be a priority and community energy projects certainly play their part in this.

“The Mayor’s London Community Energy Fund has already been successful, so it is essential both the Mayor and Government press on with community energy projects to help London become a more sustainable city.”

Read the GLA community solar report here.

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The fund will support local groups across the Midlands, South West and South Wales as they run projects to fight fuel poverty over the winter.

National Grid’s distribution business has awarded a total of £10 million to volunteer groups since the fund’s launch in 2021. Of this, £8 million has been targeted at tackling fuel poverty.

One group to apply successfully for funding is Aberporth Village Hall in Dyfed, South Wales, which has been awarded £10,000 towards the cost of solar panels and a new heating system for its community hub and warm space.

It was one of several groups to receive funding towards low carbon technologies which support a net zero energy future – a priority for National Grid.

Age UK Lindsey also benefits. It will use its £10,000 grant to provide warm packs and energy advice to help older people in Lincolnshire to reduce their energy bills.

The charity’s representative Andrew Storer said: “The grant from the Community Matters Fund will make such a huge difference to the older people we want to help this winter. Many older people will face the choice between paying their bills or putting food on their table during the winter months and because of the funding we have received, for the Age UK Lindsey Safe and Warm Homes Project, we will be able to provide direct help at a time when it is needed most.”

Chris Hayton, Director of Corporate Affairs at National Grid, said: “We know that many people will struggle to keep their homes warm this winter. At a time when addressing fuel poverty has never been more critical, our Community Matters Fund will support local groups to deliver help where it’s most needed. We’re looking forward to working with community groups to create positive change and to seeing the results of their hard work.”

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Grid operator Electricity North West has made community grants to six projects from its Powering our Communities scheme.  

Now in its sixth year, the DNO’s regional fund supports development of community and local energy initiatives from Merseyside to the Scots border.

ENW’s community energy manager Helen Seagrave said: “We recognise the role community energy has to play in the North West.

“Community energy is fundamental to ensuring our region meets its future energy needs and Net Zero targets. Ensuring those targets are met requires everybody to play their part. The winning projects will undoubtedly benefit thousands of people.”

Community energy activists volunteer on local and community-led initiatives to reduce, manage, generate or purchase energy. Practical action taken typically ranges from providing energy saving advice, finding and educating organisations such schools and local authorities in clean energy opportunities, and introducing them to installers of solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicle charging points.

Deaf Rhinos covers north Manchester. For their project in Rochdale, ENW’s fund dispensed £9,000 to empower and engage people with hearing difficulties in the transition to a low carbon future.

Also benefitting is Community Energy Preston.  They receive £15,000 to conduct feasibility studies on public roofs to speed the installation of approximately 1 MWp of community-owned solar PV.

Brookfield Spaceplace has also been awarded £15,000 to develop a new energy cooperative which will help householders on the Brookfield estate in Preston make their homes more energy efficient.

In Hyndburn, the community-owned environmental Prospects Foundation receive £14,054 to help community organisations cut carbon emissions and their energy bills.

In Cumbria, Cleator Moor Celtic have £15,000 to install solar panels and EV charging points. South Lakeland Action on Climate Change have been awarded £15,000 to roll out a project which will help create awareness and demand for a range of individual and community low carbon solutions, towards an goal of moving to electricity as a heat source.

“We were really impressed by the range of applications we received,” added ENW’s Helen Seagrave.

“The approved projects will undoubtedly make a difference in their local communities, and I can’t wait to see the outcomes.”

Electricity North West will be the headline sponsor at this year’s national Community Energy Awards 2023.  Run by national advocates Community Energy England, the event this November celebrates exceptional achievements in promoting volunteer-delivered initiatives.

The awards recognise innovative projects, inspiring leaders, and impactful initiatives that are shaping the future of community energy. For more information on the event visit Community Energy Awards 2023 | Community Energy England.

In the year to March, Electricity North West posted a pre-tax profit of £145 million on sales of £495 million. From the company’s accounts, newly arrived CEO Ian Smyth can expect first year earnings, including bonus, in excess of £1 million.

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Both urban and rural communities will have the chance to win grants from the new Community Energy Fund, primed to help civic-minded locals to develop renewable energy projects.

The Community Energy Fund will open to applications in early autumn.  Small-scale wind farms and rooftop solar generation, fuel poverty alleviation schemes, battery storage, heat networks and EV charging points are all eligible, says the government.

Andrew Bowie MP, minister for nuclear and networks, said: “Local communities are at the heart of our plans to boost our energy security and grow the economy. The Community Energy Fund for England will empower communities to do just that.

 “Importantly, these energy projects could expand beyond local areas by attracting further investment from the private sector, in turn inspiring other communities to power their area with energy from England.”

The fund is designed to attract private investment to scale up projects further down the line, supporting high-quality jobs and growth in the area.

Today’s new Community Energy Fund builds on the former Rural Community Energy Fund, expanding its remit to cover renewables investment into both rural and urban areas.

As with the old fund, its replacement will be delivered through Local Net Zero Hubs. These support local authorities to develop Net Zero projects and attract commercial investment.

Congleton Hydro in Cheshire benefitted from the now replaced Rural Community Energy Fund. It received £73,511 via its sponsoring co-operative Dane Valley Community Energy.

Thanks to government funding, the Congleton Hydro project is producing electricity from a local weir, powering the equivalent of 60 homes. Cutting local carbon emissions, the hydro provides £5,000 every year to support community projects. These have included a re-wilding programme to protect nature, and educational outreach for young people to deliver local sustainability.

Bob Owen, an engineer at Congleton Hydro, said: “The Rural Communities Energy Fund (RCEF) has been a real enabler for Dane Valley Community Energy’s Congleton Hydro, helping us to refine the system design and commission additional environmental studies required by the local planning authority.

 “The support received from RCEF is just not monetary, their facilitation of advice and assistance from a great range of contacts has been invaluable. The RCEF support also provided us with the opportunity to develop an education activity that focusses on the Sustainability of the Environment and a re-wilding programme—giving Nature a helping hand.

“Further funds from RCEF have enabled us to successfully specify and design the next Hydro Scheme based on another historic Weir in Congleton park and fund the research and the realisation of a Community Solar Scheme—the Community Share Prospectus. Without this incubator funding from RCEF, it is most unlikely that either scheme would have seen the light of day.”

Energy co-operatives are advised to draw the new CE fund’s existence to sympathetic officers at their local councils.  More details are here.

Response from Community Energy England, the umbrella body for nearly 300 co-operatives, was guarded.  Emma Bridge, its chief executive, said:

”We welcome the launch of this much needed fund and the extension of support to include urban areas, which has been a key policy ask for CEE.

“While this announcement is a positive step”, Bridge went on, “we believe that the current allocation falls short of adequately supporting local communities.

“Community energy brings so many more benefits.  To unlock its full potential, we urge the government to continue to work with the sector to overcome other barriers, to progress local supply and shared ownership of the fast-growing renewable energy sector.

“We thank the Minister for this first step.  We would also like to thank other dedicated MP supporters such as David Johnston, the sponsor of the Local Electricity Bill, and the Power for People campaign who have tirelessly championed community energy in Parliament and who worked to secure this deal.”

Interest declared: The current writer invests in and actively promotes local energy co-operatives.

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Tours of community-owned electricity generators – including a chance to inspect a 50kW Archimedes screw in the river Esk near Whitby – , workshops on fighting fuel poverty, on raising funds, and communicating changes needed from law-makers to advance democratically directed power, all feature in the fortnight ending 23 June.

Across England and northern Ireland alone, as many as 326 active generating projects now flourish, or so lobbying body Community Energy England counted last year in its ‘State of the Sector’ survey.

The wealth of events – calendar here – across four home nations highlights continuing achievements from over two decades of community-invested ventures. All have been funded by small private backers in whole or in part.

In London alone, around 30 neighbourhood-focused co-operatives work to – or already have – placed PV panels on tower-block roofs, on schools, community centres and public buildings.

Voting rights in most local co-operatives are based on “one person, one vote”, and not according to the wealth invested by any individual.

Sponsored by Thrive Renewables, a leading renewable energy investment company, this year’s fortnight of Community Energy events  is designed to empower communities to take charge of their energy future.

In tandem with making low carbon power for commercial sale, most of Britain’s citizen-directed co-operatives also combat fuel poverty now affecting over 10 million Britons.  Regular clinics run by co-ops advise hard-pressed bill payers on help available to insulate their homes, on finding cash and help from suppliers and grant givers.

Over lunch on Monday 19 June, Community Energy England hosts a funding workshop explaining how to secure success when co-operatives apply for capital grants offered by a plethora of sources.

Grants from philanthropic trusts, commercial energy suppliers and local authorities are essential to priming the pump of attracting thousands of small investors to front up for new community generating plant.

A spokesperson for Community Energy England commented:

“When people get together in their communities, they can decide for themselves what the best solutions are in their area and what their local needs are, while also creating jobs, supporting the most vulnerable, improving energy security, and responding to climate change at a grassroots level

At sponsors Thrive Renewables, managing director Matthew Clayton revealed the firm had built 24MW of clean energy projects for energy co-ops over the last 12 months

The Thrive boss added: “We’re delighted to be a sponsor of Community Energy Fortnight again this year and look forward to celebrating all that’s been achieved so far, with a hope that this inspires more groups across the UK to take part in a just transition.”

Over its first seven days, this year’s CE Fortnight dovetails with a complimentary Great Big Green Week, run by environmental charity the Climate Coalition.

Full schedule of Community Energy Fortnight’s events are here.

Interest declared: The current author invests in four local energy co-ops, and actively encourages others to do so.

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Community Energy London, which already counts 30 active citizen groups, last week met MPs and councillors at the House of Commons to launch its vision.

Solar and heat pumps this decade on that thousand buildings are just the start, says CEL.

City Hall researchers helping the umbrella group have picked out nearly 21,000 community-controlled roofs across the capital.  Half are suitable for solar PV, potential offering 1.3 GW of generating capacity.  Heat pumps & other sources could adorn the rest.

Campaigners claim that level of deployment could keep around 350,000 of London’s homes lit and heated.

Every one of the 21,000 sites will need to be turned into hubs for small-scale generation, say CEL, if London’s Mayor is to meet his Net Zero by 2030 goal.   Even the lesser target implies turning 30 roofs in every borough into a mini-power station.

Along with volunteers elsewhere in across Britain, most of CEL’s neighbourhood-based groups periodically raise sums from £20,000 to £500,000 from friends, neighbours & parents to put clean generation equipment on schools, libraries or health clinics.  A majority direct cash too into volunteer-delivered services, advising Londoners on mastering their rocketing fuel bills.

Deepening technical co-operation with City Hall has seen umbrella body CEL pick from the out of the city’s datasets roofs with most renewables potential, or structures linking into district heat networks.

A unique resource now being perfected, CE London’s Potential Map has offered up the 21,000 long-list, tying together location datasets like London’s Solar Opportunity Map, the London Building Stock Model and the capital’s Heat Map.

The Potential Map is the treasure chest for CEL’s ‘Vision for Community Energy in London’.

Adding to dividend-earning investments made by small investors, a growing minority of far-sighted boroughs are also stumping up cash. Haringey, Southwark, Brent and Hackney head the list.

Out-topping all as a financial mainstay is the London Community Energy Fund, controlled from City Hall.

Now just finishing its sixth round of grants, the LCEF has targeted poorer pockets of the capital, breathing life into 129 projects across all but six boroughs.  A total of 2.8 MW of PV panels, nearly two football fields-worth, have resulted since 2017.

From Mayor Khan’s viewpoint, the co-ops’ activism is a trailblazer towards the total £75 billion of private & public investment which City Hall officials reckon he’ll need to meet the 2030 deadline.

Six key actions are needed to keep CE London on track towards those 1,000 roofs, its leaders believe:

• Continued support from the London Community Energy Fund
• Working closer with boroughs
• Spreading recognition of community energy’s benefits in cohesion & neighbourhood building
• Unlocking the potential of Londoners to invest in community energy
• A new national strategy for Community Energy

Read CEL’s Vision document here. To attend CE London’s next online meeting this Thursday 23 March, contact co-ordinator Katherine Linsley.

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