by guest blogger, Florence Wildblood
from Power for People
Imagine a future where you can purchase clean electricity directly from a local supply company or cooperative, which runs wind turbines in a nearby field, or solar panels on the roofs of local public buildings. Imagine if every pound you spent powering your home supported local jobs, helped fund new facilities and services for your community, or contributed to further renewable energy infrastructure.
With a community energy revolution, this could all become a reality.
‘Community energy’ refers to small-scale renewable energy projects owned and run by local people. A great example is En10ergy, MHSG’s own community energy project, which has installed solar panels on the roofs of Marks and Spencer Muswell Hill, the Muswell Hill Methodist Church, and Woodside and Fortismere Schools. En10ergy promotes and invests in local renewable energy and facilitates emissions and waste reduction in the surrounding community.
There is huge potential for community energy projects to bring clean, cheap, secure energy to local homes and businesses, creating new jobs and keeping wealth within local areas.
picture credit: ‘Community Power in Waltham Forest’ event, image courtesy of James Perrin
The problem
However, the growth of community energy projects like En10ergy has been stalled by unfair regulations and disproportionate costs that have barely changed for 30 years.
The costs associated with becoming an energy supplier are huge, so projects are typically unable to sell the power they generate directly to local homes and businesses. Instead, community energy groups have to sell to big energy utilities for a fraction of the price that they could receive if they sold locally. This is preventing communities from accessing affordable, locally produced clean energy. Although the profits these projects can currently generate are fed back into the community – for example through energy efficiency support and fuel poverty relief – neither small-scale energy projects nor local communities are seeing the full benefits of local power generation.
Such a harsh environment means there are very few community energy projects in the UK, with community energy making up just 0.5% of our overall energy generation. Studies have shown that, if the right enabling measures were implemented by the Government, this could grow twentyfold in the next ten years, powering 2.2 million homes, saving 2.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year [1], and creating 30,000 jobs [2].
picture credit: Banister House Solar, image courtesy of Repowering London
The solution
At Power for People, we are campaigning for changes to law and policy that would unlock the remarkable potential for growth in community energy generation.
We have built a grassroots coalition of tens of thousands of individuals, community groups, councils and local and national organisations, all of whom support this goal. We work by coordinating advocacy from this growing coalition, amplifying local voices so they have an impact on discussions and decisions in Parliament.
This approach – asking our supporters to engage with their elected representatives in favour of measures to support community energy’s growth – has proved very successful.
Together we have already secured over £24 million in Government community energy funding. This money is helping groups start and develop small-scale renewable projects.
We also, in February 2025, persuaded the Government to change a key piece of energy legislation to include community energy. Because of our collective efforts, Labour’s flagship Great British Energy Company will be able to support community-led energy schemes alongside larger ones.
The fight is not yet won. Our ultimate goal is regulatory reform of the energy system to allow community energy projects to sell their power directly to local homes and businesses. Establishing these ‘local supply rights’ would allow projects to stand on their own two feet in the market; it is the single biggest change we can make to support community energy’s growth, and unleash its benefits for people and the planet.
Will you join our grassroots movement today?
Please sign up to support the campaign for clean energy to benefit local communities: https://powerforpeople.org.uk/sign-up
Find out more about us at powerforpeople.org.uk
[1] Environmental Audit Committee; 2021 – https://committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/406/
[2] The Poverty and Environment Trust, ‘The Call for A Level Playing Field’; https://povertyandenvironmenttrust.org/current-projects
