Insight

Event recap: Labour Party Conference fringe event: Warm Homes? How Co-ops Can Retrofit Britain

1 October 2025

CEE team member Josef Davies-Coates represented Community Energy England on the panel of their Labour Party Conference fringe event: Warm Homes? How Co-ops Can Retrofit Britain (& the launch of their Retrofit co-operatives: A report for policy makers). Here he reflects on his experience:

The panel was chaired by Rose Marley and I was pleased to join fellow panellists Jonathan Atkinson (People Powered Retrofit (PPR), Carbon Co-op), Patrick Geddis (Labour Climate and Environment Forum), & Paul Dennett, Mayor of Salford City Council & housing lead at Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

As I said on the panel, the Community Energy State of the Sector 2025 – produced with Community Energy Scotland, Ynni Cymunedol Cymru | Community Energy Wales & sponsored by SP Energy Networks – shows we’ve already got 600+ community energy organisations across the UK, with 125+ delivering retrofit today. That’s a strong base to build from.

Community energy co-ops have a unique trust advantage: people are far more likely to engage with local, mission-driven organisations than with distant corporations. And when they do engage, the benefits go far beyond cutting carbon – improving health, reducing poverty, and avoiding billions in grid upgrade costs.

With the right policies, community energy can play a central role in delivering:

* Labour’s WarmHomesPlan
* CleanPower2030 goals
* The LocalPowerPlan
* And the pledge to double the co-operative economy

Community energy co-ops are ready to deliver. Now we need government to back us.

Many thanks to Tom Laing & James Wright at Cooperatives UK