Westmill Community Energy Manifesto

Our Community Energy Manifesto sets out key priorities for growing the community energy sector, and how Government can support a fair energy transition.

download the westmill community energy Manifesto

The world’s climate is spiralling out of control. The good news is we are shifting the energy system from polluting fossil fuels toward cheaper, clean, renewable energy.

 

Illustration of the heads and shoulders o three people, one in yellow at the back on the right, one in green at the front in the middle and one in blue on the left hand side at the back.

But the energy transition will be quicker and fairer if communities can see the economic benefit in their area, which in turn builds consent for more renewable energy projects. With each new community owned project, more citizens get involved, deepening the support for an energy transition. Finally, by ensuring wide ownership of renewable generation, economic benefits are fairly and inclusively shared - not least through lower energy bills.

 

Westmill demonstrates this approach. Over 3,000 people came together to raise £23 million to create two iconic energy co-operatives. Since 2008 we have: generated 188 million kWh of green electricity (equivalent to use of 4,200 homes) given over £1 million in community grants, paid our members a fair financial return, cut energy bills, welcomed over 17,000 visitors to the site, helped create  community Energy England and supported Energy4All to grow to a diverse network of 35 energy co-operatives.

Across Europe, supported by a decade of supportive public policy, community owned energy has been growing rapidly. Over 2 million citizens are now members of energy communities with a total of over 12GW of citizen-owned renewable capacity. Energy co-operatives are developing joint ventures with local governments to deliver district heating, energy sharing models that mean citizens use energy more efficiently, electric vehicle sharing, and even buying parts of the electric grid. The movement is increasingly working across borders to share expertise and raise funds.

 

Illustration of three green people

 

The UK were the world's co-operative pioneers, but we have fallen behind as other countries have taken and developed those concepts. But it is not too late. The government should set an aspiration that by 2035 a quarter of UK renewable energy generation should be community owned.

 

 

To do this we must:

  • Support more communities with viable projects to get started
  • Give incentives for communities to raise the necessary funds, and
  • Create the confidence that community projects will actually be delivered.

 

The government can support these aims by:

1. Building on the Scottish Government "Community and Renewable Energy Scheme" (CARES) which gives communities advice and grants to scope and assess more renewable projects.

2. Legislating to require energy developers to work with their community, with local ownership (not community benefit payments) being a material issue in local planning and grid-connection assessments.

Illustration of a plug, with a wire going to a leaf, signifying green energy

3. Developing incentives for community energy, including rights to connect to the grid and ability to share electricity with nearby residents and businesses - a growing model across the rest of Europe.

4. Introducing separate finance mechanisms for community owned energy projects including access to "contract for difference" payments for smaller projects.

5. Delivering effective but proportionate regulation of co-operatives and share offers so citizens can be confident in providing funds. The FCA's recent, rigid approach to defining "trading" with  members as a key element of being a bona fide cooperative has held back citizen ownership and it should be reversed.