Labour’s energy team have hit the ground running with a flurry of announcements aimed at scaling up renewable energy. There is plenty for the community energy sector to feel positive about. However, with the Treasury indicating that big savings on expenditure may be needed, community energy will need to keep up the pressure to make sure positive policy proposals and extra funding become a reality.
To do this, the community energy needs champions within Parliament. You can help us to get the new allies the sector needs by writing to your MP, telling them about the impact of your work, thanking them for what their parties have done for the sector so far and asking them to do even more.
We are writing to ministers, working with officials and building new alliances for community energy. More than 300 MPs have community energy organisations in their constituency. We need your help to make sure all of them are community energy champions. Write to your MP now - ideas and templates here.
The Labour government has begun to lay the foundations of its energy policy agenda. It has brought forward legislation to establish Great British Energy, a publicly owned company that will implement the Local Power Plan, providing significant resources for community energy, as part of its remit. Jurgen Maier, the former chair of Siemens, has been made chair of the company.
Labour has also created a new body called 2030 Mission Control, which will have a coordination and troubleshooting role in ensuring that the UK decarbonises the grid by the end of the decade. They have appointed Chris Stark, the former Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee, to lead the body.
Labour has boosted the funds available for the latest Contracts for Difference allocation round, the main mechanism for boosting large scale renewables, and has proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to relax rules for clean energy installations. They are currently consulting on these proposals (deadline 24 September). This is in addition to the removal of the de facto ban on onshore wind.
While this activity is encouraging, it is also worth noting that statements from the Treasury indicate that the government is trying to identify potential reductions in spending across the board. Securing funding, even where it was set out in the Labour manifesto, will require a concerted effort. Backbench MPs can be particularly valuable if they are persuaded to champion community energy.
With this in mind, please write to your MP, telling them about the work you do and the impact it has locally. If they represent Labour, the Lib Dems or the Greens, thank them for putting a big emphasis on community energy in their manifesto. And ask them to speak publicly and positively about the impact and the potential of community energy and to ask the government to implement the Local Power Plan as a priority. For more details, visit our webpage here.