Please sign this joint letter to support EAC recommendations to govt on community energy.

[Duncan Law]

Dear all,

The Environmental Audit Committee's recent letter to the government, entitled Removing the barriers to the development of community energy, powerfully advocates for community energy’s importance and benefits and contains many useful recommendations for action by government.

They ask that Kwasi Kwarteng respond before 7 June. We need, now, to up the ante to make sure the recommendations are acted upon. They are summarised here.

 

Please sign this Joint Letter, also appended below, by sending your organisation's logo and name, and the signatory's name and role to d....@communityenergyengland.org before the end of Monday 24 May. We will add your name to the joint letter on our website.

Please forward to this request to any suitable partner organisations who might support.

Please say you've signed on social media. A suggested tweet is also appended below.

Thanks for reading and for your support.

Best regards

Duncan

 

--

Duncan Law

Policy and Advocacy Manager

Community Energy England - Putting people at the heart of the energy system.

M: 07958 635181, E: d....@communityenergyengland.org

Our Website // Follow us on Twitter // Facebook // LinkedIn // YouTube

Join us to help make our voice stronger. 

Joint sign-on letter from organisations in support of the Environmental Audit Committee’s recommendations to government on removing the barriers to community energy.

To: SoSs (and Ministers) at BEIS and MHCLG, the Cabinet Office, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, CEO of Ofgem, cc to Number 10, cc Phillip Dunne EAC Chair

Dear Secretaries of State, Ministers, Chancellor and Ofgem,

Action on Environmental Audit Committee recommendations on community energy

We, the undersigned organisations, support the Environmental Audit Committee’s Letter to the government on Removing the barriers to the development of community energy.

We support all its recommendations - first and foremost that the importance of community energy be recognised in the Net Zero Strategy and, vitally, in practical (and financial) support measures, that must be provided for in the Comprehensive Spending Review, to harness the potential of community energy. 

Community energy is essential to getting the buy in and active participation of the wider public, without which, as the Climate Change Committee has repeatedly warned, “It will not be possible to get close to meeting a net-zero target.” The Climate Assembly UK report to the government highlighted “informing and educating everyone”, “fairness within the UK, including for the most vulnerable” and “local community engagement” as prioritised principles to underpin the path to net zero. Community energy can be a key ally to the Government here. It can deliver significantly greater social and community benefits than purely commercial interventions, ensuring people and communities are not left behind. Community energy is essential to realising a just transition and harnessing local opportunities and synergies that otherwise would not happen.

We urge you to work together to ensure that the specific recommendations in the Committee’s letter are taken seriously and enacted. These include removing the regulatory barriers to local supply of energy and providing specific financial supports for community energy such as is available for commercial onshore renewable energy, namely:  a Community Smart Export Guarantee, with a long-term floor price; an Urban Community Energy Fund; a replacement for the Renewable Heat Incentive for community energy and funding for Local Area Energy Planning and local authority/community energy collaborations.

We look forward to hearing positive news from you and seeing the cross-departmental working, collaboration with devolved administrations, regulatory enabling, support for local authority/community energy planning and collaboration, and learning from international best practice that the Committee advocates. 

We look forward to seeing community energy fulfill its potential, adding value to communities and empowering them to meet their own needs, and ensuring no one and no community is left behind in a just energy transition. 

Yours sincerely

To sign this letter..

Please send your organisation’s logo and name, signatory name and role. (Actual signature not required) to d....@communityenergyengland.org before the end of Monday 24 May.

Suggested tweet

(Please # and @ freely)

We have signed the joint letter to govt supporting @CommonsEAC recommendations to remove the barriers to #communityenergy, essential to achieving #NetZero and delivering huge #SocialBenefit. Please add your weight.

https://communityenergyengland.org/pages/joint-sign-on-letter