Be part of our network
Support our work to ensure community energy can thrive and scale. Our network is vibrant and determined and we’d love you to be part of it.
Why join CEE?
Membership of Community Energy England shows commitment to the broader interests of the sector and demonstrates your support for the work we do to help create a policy landscape in which community energy can thrive.
Your support directly adds to the strength of our voice to advocate on behalf of the sector, so becoming a member helps to enable the movement to grow and progress towards its huge potential.
Becoming part of the collective voice working for the benefit of the sector opens up new avenues for you to connect with and learn from other practitioners and stakeholders in the community energy sector.
You can feed directly into our strategy and priorities through various means and alert us to issues that affect your or other organisations within the sector and require our assistance to resolve.
Membership benefits
- Access to our regular member newsletter
- Exclusive access to our online member forums
- Your organisation featured as a supporter on our website and member map
- The opportunity to promote your news, projects, services, job vacancies, events and share offers on our web site and through our newsletter and social media channels (LinkedIn and on Blue Sky)
- Speaking opportunities at our events and priority access to sponsor our events and publications
- Voting rights at our AGM and the opportunity to stand as a director
- The opportunity to feed into our consultation responses and shape our advocacy agenda
- Only members are eligible to be nominated for annual Community Energy Awards
Why members are important
To fulfil its potential, the community energy sector needs a representative and advocate. Our position as the recognised representative body for community energy in England is founded on our status as a membership body. Members give us credibility and increase the strength of our voice when seeking to influence government, regulators and other policy makers in line with the interests and needs of the sector. Our staff and directors sit on strategic advisory panels and working groups, acting as the voice of the sector.
Our members are central to our purpose, strategy and activities – listening to our members, the broader sector and its stakeholders is at the heart of our organisation. We actively seek input and insight from members so we can shape our strategic objectives and prioritise our efforts on the basis of what we see and hear within the sector, in combination with our analysis of the broader policy landscape, economic outlook and energy system context.
As part of our capacity building efforts, we look for opportunities to initiate and deliver projects for the benefit of the sector as a whole. Having a diverse, active membership improves our ability to build effective cross-sector partnerships. Membership fees are an important source of income for Community Energy England and help to make sure our activity for the benefit of the sector is sustainable for as long as the sector needs us. By committing to pay membership fees, your organisation is making an important contribution to the sustainability of Community Energy England, helping ensure our income is diversified and we can make longer-term plans for our work on behalf of the sector’s growth and success.
Who can join?
Membership is open to any organisation supporting community energy
Membership is open to any organisation which supports community energy, including unincorporated groups who may be at the early stages of developing projects and commercial organisations that serve or work in partnership with the sector.
We work to build understanding and successful links between community, commercial and public sector partners in order to create the conditions within which community energy can flourish. We work for the benefit of the community energy movement as a whole and therefore act as an inclusive organisation.
We welcome any organisation that shares our values and interest in putting people at the heart of the energy system to join us.
Membership types
We have a range of membership types to cover all our valued members
As Community Energy England is a membership body, fees are a significant and valued part of our income, helping us continue our work and ensure our contribution to the sector’s success is sustainable.
Our fees are varied to accommodate our wide variety of members and to be as inclusive as possible. For example, to assist new entrants to the sector, members in their first year of operation or those with a turnover under £20k are eligible for a year’s free membership.
Community membership
For practitioner organisations
Community membership is open to:
- Any social enterprise or not-for-profit organisation delivering or planning to deliver community energy projects, with a membership drawn primarily from the communities they serve; or
- Any social enterprise or not-for-profit organisation set up primarily to support the delivery of community energy projects;
Corporate membership
For public or private for-profit companies, firms or partnerships.
Our standard annual Corporate membership fee is £1,100. We are in the process of reviewing and developing its corporate fee membership to ensure we offer a fair and affordable membership to smaller, start-up corporate organisations. If your organisation fits this description, please get in touch, in the interim, to discuss your membership options.
Showing your support for Community Energy England will give you credibility within the sector when approaching potential clients and other stakeholders, by demonstrating that not only are you active and experienced with community energy you have also chosen to support the broader success of the sector and help it to thrive. You will be able to use our “I’m a Member” logo to illustrate this in your communications, website and other literature; most experienced organisations active in the community energy sector in England are members of CEE, so will understand the significance of this. Your organisation will also be featured as a supporter on our website and member map, allowing practitioners within the sector to find you and your services more easily.
Our Tools & guidance section provides lots of information for community energy organisations, and other sector stakeholders. We are keen to work with corporate members to develop guides and information to feature in these pages, that will help practitioners and stakeholders learn and develop projects, as well as showcasing our corporate members’ expertise and the services they offer.
Local Authority membership
For local authority, parish, town or city councils
There is huge potential for local authorities and community energy organisations to work together to pursue common local goals and achieve the benefits offered by the community energy sector.
Membership of Community Energy England will help demonstrate your commitment to the broader interests of the sector and demonstrate your support for the work we do to help create a landscape in which community energy can thrive. Your support also directly adds to the strength of our voice to advocate on behalf of the sector.
Membership of Community Energy England represents a valuable way for local authority, parish, town or city councils to publicly demonstrate their commitment to supporting the community energy sector, signalling intent or building on existing support mechanisms and partnerships they are involved in.
Membership fees for local authorities are broken down into three bands:
- £165 – Town and Parish Council
- £275 – District Borough and City Council
- £1,100 – County Councils, Metropolitan Councils and London Boroughs
Public & Third Sector membership
For national government departments, housing, associations, non-governmental/campaigning organisations and charities
Public Members are organisations such as national government departments or housing associations and Third Sector Members are non-governmental bodies, campaigning organisations, social enterprises, co-ops and charities. As with other types, membership is a public demonstration of support for the community energy sector and opens up the potential for greater collaboration with Community Energy England. Our standard annual Public & Third Sector membership fee is £550.
Individual membership
For individuals not attached to an organisation
If you are an individual who is active in the community energy sector but not attached to an organisation, or you just want to support our work further, you can donate through our Peoples Fundraising page or become an Individual Member. As an individual, you will become part of our broad network and member community, but you will not have the right to vote in our AGM since this is given only to organisations. Our standard annual Individual Membership fee is £110.
Principal Supporter membership
Members from any type providing us with higher levels of co-operation and support.
Principal Supporters are members from any type who have provided us with valuable funding and work closely with us as strategic partners, providing us with higher levels of co-operation and support.
We would welcome principal sponsorship from any organisation who shares our values and is looking to support the growth of community energy.
For those organisations who are able to contribute further to our activities, we offer principal sponsorship for £5,500. Find out more about principal supporter membership
As Community Energy England is a membership body, fees are a significant and valued part of our income, helping us continue our work and ensure our contribution to the sector’s success is sustainable. Our fees are structured to reflect organisations of all types and levels of income.
We are a not-for-profit organisation with all income used to fund our organisation and its activities working on behalf of the community energy sector. If you have any questions about fees or membership before joining, please contact us, using the form below.
What our members say
“CEE are the first point of call for all things community energy. CEE have a fantastic overview of all that is happening in the sector across the nation, with valuable insights and resources and a priceless network of community energy peers to call upon. A super helpful and insightful team and a truly invaluable network.”
Carlton Smith, Bradford Community Energy
“For community energy organisations to gain the fastest momentum it helps to collaborate with similar groups – CEE is vital in supporting that to happen.”
Nicola Davidson, Community Energy Pathways
Any questions?
If you have any questions , first try our FAQs, and if that doesn’t help, please get in touch using the form below.