On 28 February, CSE Chief Executive, Janine Michael, wrote to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Climate Change to highlight five key principles on which we feel the Local Power Plan should be based, in order to secure its success.

This was on the invitation of Department for Energy Security and Net Zero officials working on the Local Power Plan, which is based on the July 2024 Great British Energy founding statement.

You can download the full letter here.

Five insights

Below, are summaries of the five insights that we shared.

1) Continuity of support

First and foremost, the Community Energy Fund needs to be extended until the Local Power Plan is in place. A hiatus in support risks a drop in ambition from existing community actors which will in turn reduce the number of community energy projects coming on stream. The Local Power Plan needs to express a clear and long-term commitment to support the development of local-authority led and community energy projects.

2) Capacity building

The Local Power Plan needs to invest in capacity building and social infrastructure as well as megawatts to ensure fairness and accessibility.

Local authorities and community organisations need skills, knowledge and support to bring forward new community generation schemes. Right now, just submitting a decent application to the Community Energy Fund is a challenge for novice organisations. A fundamental element of the plan needs to be the provision of a dedicated support service for community organisations to help them bring forward new community energy initiatives.

3) Broader support for community action

The ‘power’ in Local Power Plan must go beyond electricity generation to recognise the wider benefits of community-led energy initiatives.

We welcome the government’s commitment to delivery of Clean Power 2030, but the Local Power Plan should also enable local energy innovation beyond traditional generation projects—including community-led retrofit services, heat networks, and energy flexibility projects.

4) NESO and community energy

The establishment of the National Energy System Operator with responsibility for overseeing the decarbonisation of our energy system is an enormous leap forward.

But we remain concerned that, in the race towards achieving Clean Power by 2030, the focus on decarbonisation and renewable energy means that the benefits from community energy projects and local-authority led schemes – in particular the social value in the form of jobs and retained local income – is not being sufficiently recognised.

There is a strong case for requiring NESO and distribution network operators to find solutions that prioritise local-authority led and community energy scheme connections.

5) Community engagement

GB Energy must lead by example in best practice for community engagement, ensuring that local voices shape energy development.

Most people will experience large-scale energy infrastructure through commercial developments rather than community-led schemes. It is paramount therefore that engagement processes are reviewed and improved, as people’s acceptance, understanding and use of clean technologies will ultimately determine the speed of change.

Stronger engagement standards must be embedded in the Local Power Plan to ensure that all new energy projects, whether community-led or commercially developed, reflect the needs and priorities of local people.

You can download the full letter here.