Where community energy fits

Community energy projects are wide-ranging, covering all manners of collective action to reduce, purchase, manage and generate energy. What these schemes do have in common is that they have an emphasis on local engagement, local leadership and control and the local community benefiting collectively from the outcomes.

In 2014, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published the Community Energy Strategy for the UK, which set out the role that communities can play in helping to meet the UK’s energy and climate change challenges, including supporting a sustainable and secure energy system; reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions; and lowering consumer bills.

Community energy is a movement towards decentralised energy generation, greater use of renewable energy, local energy networks and better energy efficiency. No one knows exactly how much community groups could contribute towards our national targets, but if they continue to grow at current rates, community energy could become very significant over the coming years. But more significantly the impact of community schemes on households and businesses in a region can be profound.

Existing community energy schemes have seen benefits including lower energy bills, new jobs created and increased local engagement.