During COP26 and beyond, we have been focused on pushing a selection of policies crucial to the success of the sector and ensuring that the many benefits of community energy are enabled for communities. Below is the platform that we pushed and continue to push to policymakers.
A fully referenced and hyperlinked version of our COP26 policy guide is here.
Specific Policies
Fiscal policy and financial support.
- Institute a national Community Energy Fund to replace the Rural Community Energy Fund, to include urban and rural projects, heat, energy efficiency and retrofit.
- Reinstate tax relief and institute business rate incentives for investment in community energy. Remove VAT on energy-saving measures
- Support community energy to work with Local Authorities on “Local Area Energy Planning” and the resulting collaborative energy projects
Planning and regulation
- Ofgem to have decarbonisation and social benefit in their official mandate and to actively support community energy.
- Reforming the planning system to facilitate achieving net-zero (not just sustainable development) as quickly as possible and to enable community-led renewable energy.
Other
- Remove planning blocks to onshore wind in England and ensure a strong element of community ownership and/or control.