Community energy: yes, we CAN!

Earlier this month, I facilitated two workshops at the Carbon Action Network (CAN) training conference in London. CAN brings together local authority officers working on energy efficiency and renewable energy, creating a vibrant space for sharing ideas and experiences, grappling with policy changes and finding the best ways to deliver outcomes for local communities.

I asked the local authorities in the workshops for their views on community energy. I was interested to understand the local authorities’ perspectives on the opportunities and risks presented by community energy, and what could be put in place to capitalise on the opportunities and mitigate the risks.

Here’s what people said:

Opportunities

Community energy can bring affordable energy to communities (and to councils), and bring people closer to energy generation. This can help to engage schools with energy awareness and support links to health and other wider benefits. Community energy can also help build relationships between councils and the third sector.

Ideas around local ownership and improved security of supply also resonated. The best schemes were seen as those with a clear set of aims and objectives from a community point of view.

Smart councils can be opportunistic – using existing projects as a springboard for new community energy projects (for example, an estate refurbishment project could lead to a community energy project around rooftop solar). There is also potential for greater community involvement in CHP and district heating projects.

Community energy projects can be a lever for energy switching and behaviour change on energy saving.

Risks

Councils felt that the process of developing a community energy project is too complex and might be off-putting to fledgling community groups. Some local authorities had a good idea of potential projects in their local area but had struggled to find volunteers or groups who wanted to take them on.

The changing policy landscape and the lack of a long-term vision for the sector also work against scheme development, particularly when the message around renewable energy seems to change with the wind (no pun intended). The media doesn’t help, either, with a tendency to focus on stories of opposition rather than stories of success.

Sometimes, councils find that they are working against local community energy (eg, in planning decisions) and that developers can oppose ambitions (eg, for CHP / private wire).

To make the most of opportunities and to overcome risks, local authorities would welcome:

Clear direction

• A clear framework and long-term support for community energy at a national level; this could take the form of a “Small Energy Strategy”. Legislation could support the creation of community energy projects when other work is being done (eg, on the back of large scale development / Section 106 agreements)
• Defined guidelines – what is the role of the local authority? Perhaps the LGA can bring something here.
• A supportive environment from the energy companies when it comes to exporting energy back to the grid.
• Leadership at a local level can make all the difference

Resources

• People with the time and resources to engage effectively with the local community energy sector
• Closer working with planners – one authority had taken a group of planners to visit different sites so they could see technologies in action first hand

Evidence

• A greater evidence base about the benefits of community energy to help build political and community support – this would include positive success stories
• Information about the mechanics of community energy, particularly around the legal, procurement and infrastructure processes

(I'm glad they talked about the evidence base and information, as it gave me a chance to plug the new Community Energy Hub, launched in September 2015 and developed by SE2, Project Dirt and the Energy Saving Trust :-))

There is a real appetite among local authorities to engage with the potential for local community energy and, in many cases, to act as a partner in development of projects. Some proactive authorities are taking data sets like heat maps and EPC ratings and making these available to help stimulate community energy groups into identifying local opportunities. The Right to Bid for community assets, enshrined in the Localism Act, could also act as a catalyst for further developments.

As with many things in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sector right now, there’s a call for direction and a sense of what support might be available over the next few years. Even if the answer is “not much”, that would give Councils (and community energy groups) a sense of the landscape they are working within. As one community energy group said to me recently: “we’re adaptable”!