There are 267 MPs (excluding Scottish MPs) who represent seats with community energy projects in them. That is a huge potential power-base if all of them can recognise the power and potential of our sector to enable the energy transition and bring benefit to their communities.
The Government's Net Zero Strategy, published on Tuesday 19 October 2020, mentioned community energy but contained no concrete plans or support measures for the sector, despite recommendations from the Environmental Audit Committee that it should. The British Energy Security Strategy of April 2022 did not rectify that omission. Neither have any actions of the recent government - indeed the reverse.
In March 2022 the Rural Community Energy Fund ended. In June 2022 the then Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, told us that "the Government has decided not to provide further grant funding for community energy projects through a national Community Energy Fund at the present time." He directed us to the Energy Redress Fund, newly opened up to community businesses, and the UK-wide national growth funds - see our Funding Database. Sadly neither give direct access to feasibility and development funding that the Rural Community Energy Fund provided, which in the NW of England mobilised £69 of community investment for every £1 of government seed funding. The growth funds are mostly capital funds where £1 of grant creates £1 of project.
We ask you to write to your MP asking them to write to the new BEIS Secretary of State to urgently put in place support measures for community energy. See CEE's recent letter to the Secretary of State for detailed reasoning. (See suggested MP letter below)
Why harnessing our MPs is key.
Already, CE friendly MPs have helped us get questions asked and meet the minister. More than 300 support the Local Electricity Bill. An 'All Party Parliamentary Group on Community Energy' was recently formed. We have built profile and recognition in Westminster.
We argue in our Parliamentary Briefing (bit.ly/CEEbriefing) that community energy is essential to achieving net-zero and as such should be supported financially and in policy. Ministers are increasingly echoing our messaging: Kwasi Kwarteng in June 2020 - "If we’re going to get to Net Zero we're going to need more local engagement" Alok Sharma to the Environmental Audit Committee - "We're going to have to take the public with us".
The Conservative government has a majority of 80 seats so Conservative MPs are especially important, particularly those in the so-called Red Wall of northern seats gained from Labour to whom the government listens carefully.
We are working to get community energy and people back at the centre of government energy policy. But for this to have any possibility of making the real change we need lots more community energy champions in parliament, ideally Conservative MPs. We need the photographs of the Secretary of State waving on a community energy rooftop soon.
We will write to all relevant ministers in the new government, committees, pressure groups and opposition spokespeople to get our community energy asks before them. We will work with partner organisations like the Energy Saving Trust, Green Alliance, NEA and the Climate Coalition to join up our campaigning.
Make your MP a community energy champion
MPs can only really respond to people and projects in their constituencies. So we are asking community energy people and organisations (you!) to connect with and make an ally of your MP, whatever their political complexion and whether you like them or not. Invite them to visit your project and to invest in it, to share-issues and project launches, take and share good pictures (with the aim of getting them featured prominently on their website, Facebook page, into their newsletters), tag them in social media, update them on progress, get them wanting to boast about you in Parliament. Also ask them to do things for you - ask parliamentary questions, write to ministers. Then they will be much more willing to champion the sector or your project when we need them.
Please (and also mobilise supporters to) email, write to or tweet your MP, urging them to visit your project and champion community energy in the House; you can adapt our suggested letter to do this. Please explain why community energy is great - (benefits to your local community) - and, as a trusted intermediary, the key to engaging the wider community to actively participate in the urgent energy transition. Attach the CEE Parliamentary Briefing.
Your MP can be found at https://www.theyworkforyou.com/ (where you can also send them a message). Full contact details, and how MPs prefer to be addressed, is available at https://members.parliament.uk/members/Commons
Please write to local newspapers in the same vein.
Sample MP email/letter.
To find your MP's name, email and preferred mode of address go to https://members.parliament.uk/members/Commons
Please adapt the draft below so that it feels comfortably your own words and includes local references. BE SURE TO MODIFY OR DELETE ALL THE SECTIONS IN SQUARE BRACKETS!!! The draft uses 'We' thoughout assuming you are writing on behalf of your organisation of multiple people. Please amend if this isn't right. If you don't have a site suitable for a visit, please ask for a meeting or arrange to attend one of you MPs regular surgeries. See our Election Planning page at bit.ly/CEE-Election24 and our guide to site visits here. 70+ MPs are standing down at the election. Yours may be among them. In which case amend the penultimate paragraph to say 'urge your party candidate to state their support for us and community energy UK wide in their election literature'. And adapt ask 3. in the summary.
~~~~~~~~~
Dear [MP's preferred form of address from their ‘contacts’ page on ParliamentUK. You may have a less formal relationship so use what you are comfortable with.]
We write from [NAME OF YOUR CE ORGANISATION] active in your constituency. [ADD brief details of your work/benefits to local people]
The government has launched the Community Energy Fund, for England only, of £10m until March 2025. We welcome this as a first step which the government must build upon. The Labour Party has of course pledged £400m a year in low interest loans for communities to deliver energy projects, alongside £600m a year of grants for local authorities if they win the next election.
The government pledged in September to hold a consultation on the barriers to community energy and to local supply. It is vital that this is launched before the general election is announced. Please write to Minister Callanan asking him to expedite this.
We would also like to invite you to visit our project at [ADD DETAILS including best times for you - Fridays and weeks or Easter Recess 26 Mar - 15 Apr are best for MPs] to show you that local people are taking climate action and delivering benefit to the community and want the government to back that with radical national policy. We would like to demonstrate how much more benefit could be delivered to constituents with supportive national government policy.
For instance, despite the government deleting Local Electricity Bill clauses in the Energy Bill, we still need a ‘right of local supply’ to enable our local generation to join up with local energy users in a constructive way that matches local demand with supply, which can reduce the need for expensive grid reinforcement and inefficient centralised generation. If you have not already, please join the majority of your colleagues in supporting the Local Electricity Bill campaign by contacting steve.shaw@powerforpeople.org.uk.
[THIS PARA ONLY APPLICABLE if the MP is standing for election again] We hope you visit us so that we can enthuse you with the work we do. Please state your support for us and community energy UK wide on your social media, webiste and in any election literature you may produce. A site visit could provide an occasion for a powerful photograph, which you can use.
In summary:
- Please write to Minister Callanan asking him to expedite the barriers to community energy consultation.
- Please visit our project.
- Please state your support for community energy in any election materials.
We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks you for all you do for your constituents.
Yours sincerely
[YOUR ADDRESS WITH A POSTCODE IN THE CONSTITUENCY (can be of your project if you don’t live in the constituency) You could attach or link Community Energy England's Parliamentary Briefing at http://bit.ly/CEEbriefing which contains other policy proposals.]
Please copy in d.law@communityenergyengland.org so we can track who's been contacted,
Thank you!
~~~~~~~~
Tweet
Please do tweet from your organisation’s account if possible. You can find MP Twitter handles here. Please ADD A PICTURE (essential - use one of your project ideally and 'tag' people in it to increase reach), personalise with relevant # and @.
Please don't delete the dot at the beginning. Replace the dots at the end with text, links, @ or #
.@[MPtwitterhandle...]
Please support #CommunityEnergy in your election campaigning, urge @lordcallanan to publish the 'barriers to community energy' consultation and visit our project. ..................................................................
@Comm1nrg @Power4PeopleUK
