Member

As we get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets controlled by petro-states and dictators, we do not want this clean energy simply to be owned by big companies and multinationals. We want every community in this country to have the chance to own our energy future. We know that community ownership is a transformative tool to build the wealth and pride of local areas and give people a stake in the places in which they live. We already see this in pioneering community energy projects across Britain, and I pay tribute to them, including Lawrence Weston in Bristol, where England’s tallest onshore wind turbine, which I have visited, is 100% community-owned and generates tens of thousands of pounds a year to reinvest in the local community; the Geraint Thomas velodrome in Newport, which hosts nearly 2,000 solar panels and is one of the largest rooftop solar projects in Wales, cutting bills in Wales dramatically; and the Huntly Development Trust in Aberdeenshire, where community wind projects generate income that helps fund local charities.