Power of Places: A vision for local energy in the UK

Insights for local energy stakeholders

Embedding energy generation, supply, and flexibility at a community and local authority level creates many benefits. It gives people a tangible stake in the transition, it reinvests value into local wealth-building, it lowers energy bills, and it strengthens trust in net zero infrastructure and partnerships. Yet the UK energy system remains largely optimised for large-scale, national generation and supply, and this makes it harder for smaller-scale, locally-driven projects that deliver place-based benefits often struggle to compete or even be seen.

This report lays out a positive and credible vision where local energy is not marginal but central. It identifies five pillars that underpin this vision: empowering communities, locally-minded markets, innovative solutions, resilient systems, and thriving partnerships. And it offers guidance on how communities, local authorities, developers, and network operators can collaborate to shape energy systems that reflect the specific local needs as well as delivering place-based value.

The report emphasises how UK Government’s emerging frameworks, including the Great British Energy / Local Power Plan, the reform of grid connections, and the Clean Power 2030 agenda, present a window of opportunity that can help rebalance the system in favour of local energy. In short, if we meet the ambition for local energy with the transformation happening within regulation, markets, networks, capacity, and funding, then place-based energy could be a powerful driver of fairer, faster decarbonisation.

Key findings

• Local energy projects create social, economic and environmental value by reinvesting benefits directly into communities.
• A thriving local energy future depends on five pillars: empowered communities, fair markets, innovation, resilience and strong partnerships.
• Current market and grid reforms create a timely opportunity to scale local energy and unlock place-based benefits.