THE COMMUNITY ENERGY REVOLUTION

In recent years, we have seen the number of community energy schemes increasing across the nation in an effort to combat the climate crisis with renewable energy solutions. However, while the number of these groups is increasing, their further development and growth is stunted. Such providers are unable to sell their clean energy to local areas owing to policy restrictions, blockage by unfair regulations and costs that are disproportionate to the size of their scheme.

The not-for-profit organisation Power for People are orchestrating a community energy revolution. We are coordinating a public campaign which calls for the enabling of community energy schemes to sell their clean electricity to people in their local area for a fair price. We have worked with energy experts on the Local Electricity Bill, which has a cross-party group of 311 supportive MPs, including 42 of the 44 Scottish National Party MPs. The Bill is our mechanism for our goal of enabling communities to sell clean energy locally.

This change would lead to a significant increase in community-led renewable energy generation. The Bill would have a transformative impact on communities across Scotland by keeping revenue local, creating new skilled jobs and supporting local clean energy initiatives. This can help alleviate the cost of energy crisis by allowing people to purchase clean energy from a local organisation and ensure the rapid transition to a clean energy economy.

SEDA Land is driven by a mission to formulate and promote solutions to create a healthy ecology and vibrant social economy. This vision aligns directly with the goals of Power for People; to support the UK’s rapid transition to 100% renewable energy and for it to benefit local communities. This is critical as energy prices skyrocket and the cost-of-living increases rapidly.

In September, Power for People worked with Baroness Natalie Bennett to table amendments to the Government’s Energy Bill, which has now been put on hold. They are working to have their Local Electricity Bill reintroduced into Parliament and they continue to advocate for measures to enable local supply to be included in any new Government legislation on energy.

Sign up today to support the campaign for clean energy to benefit local communities.

Find out more about the campaign by visiting their website at www.powerforpeople.org.uk.