Lords and Baronesses join MPs in calling for community energy to be added into the Great British Energy Bill
This Tuesday evening, calls on the Government to include community energy in its new Great British Energy Bill mounted, with Conservative Party Shadow Ministers joining the cross-party clamour.
Appeals came this time from members of the House of Lords, as they debated an amendment to this proposed legislation, which will establish the Great British Energy company – a much-heralded future part of UK greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts.
Despite Government Ministers repeatedly stating their desire for the new Great British Energy company to support the growth of community energy, nowhere in this flagship Bill is there mention of it.
‘Community energy’ is the term for groups of people organising to build, own and run local renewable energy generation schemes. We are campaigning for the remarkable potential for growth in community energy to be realised, so that local communities across the UK can enjoy the social and economic benefits it can bring, whilst transitioning to a clean energy system.
The Labour election manifesto was clear in declaring support for community energy. On page 54, it says:
‘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.’
Labour also pledged in their pre-election 5 Missions for Great British Energy to ‘make available up to £600m in funding for local authorities and up to £400m low-interest loans each year for communities’.
Given all these welcome words, you might think this leading Bill aimed at delivering the Government’s energy policy would contain community energy. You would be wrong.
When the Bill began its passage through Parliament in September, we asked our nationwide network of supporters to urge their MPs to raise the need for an amendment that would include community energy. This led to over 80 MPs, from all parties, directly supporting such a move. You can read more about that here and watch our highlights video of one of the debates here.
At the debate on Tuesday evening, Baronesses and Lords from both sides of the House added their voices to that call as they backed an amendment to include community energy in the Bill. You can see what they said in our highlights video here. We were, in particular, delighted by the Conservative Frontbench joining in with this official party line from the Earl of Effingham:
“By specifically including community energy schemes, this amendment acknowledges the growing role of grass-roots initiatives in the energy transition. It ensures that GBE will actively support, facilitate and encourage energy generation models that are owned or part-owned by local and community organisations. … This approach not only helps democratise energy production but empowers communities to take control of their energy future, fostering a more decentralised and resilient energy system. Community-led schemes have proven essential in driving local economic growth, creating jobs and promoting energy independence. By ensuring that GBE is aligned with these objectives, we not only advance environmental sustainability but cultivate a more equitable and diverse energy landscape, one that shifts power back into the hands of local communities.”
Government Ministers have argued that, because they have said Great British Energy will support community energy, it is not needed in the Bill. We disagree for the following three reasons:
The community energy sector has faced disproportionately restrictive policy and regulation over the past six years, thus seeing almost no growth. Whilst other nations have seen community-led renewable energy schemes surge over the last decade, in the UK their total generating capacity has stayed at a tiny 300 megawatts – around 0.5% of our national total. Ministers say that Great British Energy will support community energy, but their refusal to put anything in the Bill to ensure that support happens risks undermining the confidence of the staff and volunteers of the sector and of potential investors.
Unless community energy is in the Bill, future ministers, governments or chief executives of Great British Energy may decide not to pursue it and the full benefits of local energy may not be realised. There is precedent for this – as Director General of OFGAS from 1993-1998, Clare Spottiswoode refused to implement a widespread energy savings programme, despite Government Ministers at the time saying OFGAS would do so. Full detail is in our latest Parliamentary briefing here.
Further to the above argument, it was concerning that, when giving evidence to the House of Commons Committee on 8th October 2024, Great British Energy’s Chair, Juergen Maier, stated that community energy did not have the potential to become gigawatts of renewable generation. This directly contradicts studies that say the exact opposite, including one by the Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee from the last Parliament, which said community energy generation could increase by around twentyfold over ten years with the right enabling policies, i.e. to around 6 gigawatts. Such comments from the Chair of the company the Bill is setting up show how vital it is that community energy is made a priority for that company in the legislation.
We therefore welcomed the Minister, Lord Hunt’s, final remarks in the debate on Tuesday. He said:
“On local and community energy, the amendments tabled by the noble Earl, Lord Russell, and the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, would essentially include GBE support for community energy schemes in the Bill. … I will give great consideration to community energy between Committee and Report.”
‘Report’ is the debate and vote stage that will happen early next year. We will continue to organise for community energy’s inclusion as the Great British Energy Bill progresses through Parliament.