Community Energy England's Summer Conference

The theme of the conference in Birmingham was “scaling community energy” and there was lots of inspiration in the room, from talks on local energy networks and shared ownership models, to open space sessions and a networking lunch.

There was also an update from Great British Energy and South West Net Zero Hub (SWNZH) on the progress of the eagerly awaited support for community energy as outlined in the Local Power Plan.

The question of taking community energy "mainstream" was debated – questioning what we mean by “mainstream” and the challenge of getting there. The "Up the Energy" campaign aiming to increase public awareness of community energy was also a big theme.

It was acknowledged that scaling community energy will require groups to have better support for feasibility studies, business case development, share raises, and a host of other legal and financial processes.

It was good to meet-up with so many people, and teams from SWNZH, National Grid Energy Distribution (NGED), Younity, Big Solar Coop, Feasibly, and of course Community Energy England. All-in-all a very busy day!