“It’s the community, stupid”

The shiny new National Energy Service Operator (NESO) published a hefty report recently that essentially told us that Great Britain ‘could’ get to ‘Clean Power’ by 2030. 84 pages of hope, challenge and a hefty bucketful of caveats. This was just what the UK’s Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband needed – clarity that a route to clean power by 2030 exists; recognition that the path isn’t easy; and, above all else, an understanding that this will need to be a joint endeavour – literally everyone needs to be engaged.

This must be good news, yeah? We’ve got ourselves a route map to wean ourselves off fossil fuel energy production. Lots to digest and no time to waste. The caveats were striking and give us all much to reflect upon – for example, the necessity to push twice as many schemes through planning over the upcoming five years than was achieved across over the past ten years stands out – a huge scaling up of capacity and delivery; no mean feat.

But one of the biggest caveats in the report (in our view) warranted very few lines: the concept of community consent. Not saying we were surprised: we weren’t – after all this is starting to become the elephant in the room – whether it’s pylons criss-crossing the countryside or wind turbines closer to home, too many policymakers seem incapable of comprehending the idea that not everyone is squarely marching alongside us on this road to a greener future.

Outside of our self-selecting renewables bubble, there’s another bubble, formed of frustration and resentment – and it’s growing. An increasingly vocal minority are watching this net zero ‘transition’ from a totally different vantage point. It’s not that they don’t care, nor are they uninformed and we should be very wary of describing this group as ‘disengaged’ on net zero. They’re not; they’re very engaged, but are rejecting the current solutions proposed. And they’re getting organised.

Phrases like ‘take communities with us’ have started to feel hollow, at best, or condescending, at worst. There’s no use ignoring this reality that all of us working within renewable energy face. Instead let's embrace it.

Yep, we hear you say, ‘they’re a minority’ – polling has consistently shown that the public support a transition to clean energy and understand most of the consequences of such a transition, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t susceptible to the narratives emerging from the minority; especially when some of the challenges relate to the fairness of this transition. And they aren’t being resolved.

People instinctively know, and can increasingly evidence, how the financial benefits of the transition often flow directly to investors miles away from the communities closest to the generating assets. No amount of ‘community-washing’ can hide the extraction – after all, in Wales, extraction is in the air – we know full well what it smells like.

Cutting to the chase – ownership matters. If we are genuinely serious about phrases like a ‘just transition’, then Community Energy has a pivotal role to play. The more solutions are devised, financed, developed, managed and owned here, the more resilient and crucially the more adept and agile they’ll become to deal with whatever else is lurking around a corner – the unknown unknowns.

We have an ever-narrowing window to seize the prize of clean energy, and we agree with NESO that no time can be wasted. But time spent with communities won’t be wasted. To the contrary, it’s incumbent on us all to engage with those we disagree with, and to do better: not just consult, or plan or even listen better, but DO better. Developing capacity and belief that will drive up the pipeline of community projects, where the ownership and all the benefits remain in local democratic hands is surely the antidote to an increasingly organised backlash?

At Community Energy Wales, we are committed to playing our part in a cleaner energy future. Our members are doing even more: actively contributing generating capacity from wind, solar and hydro schemes across the Country. These schemes help power community needs and importantly keep profits circulating locally and delivering benefits at a scale that should, quite frankly, embarrass some of the bigger commercial developers. We need more projects, from more community groups, in more areas of Wales, and we need them now.

For that to happen the first thing we need to do is recognise the truth that lots of communities have been neglected and ignored for far too long – let’s start with some humility and ensure we maintain that as we move forward. Communities must own their own future and play their active role in what happens next. People need to be heard, on their terms, in their communities and have their concerns addressed. We at CEW are up for the challenge and are developing our skills base to back the communities we serve. We know full well this won’t be easy; far from it, but it is necessary and time critical. Moreover, if this isn’t done, NESO won’t get to where it needs to by 2030, and that doesn’t bode well for anyone.

Let’s change the terms of the debate – reject the top down, preachy narratives we’re all used to – instead, let’s get on with backing the people of Wales to lead the pathway to a better energy future.

Ymlaen!

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If you want to support growing community energy in Wales please consider joining RhanNi - the movement for community energy.

Keep an eye out for our State of the Sector report, our annual flagship report, launching in December, that highlights the current trends within community energy.

Join a local community energy organisation, if there isn't one local to you, look to set one up. Community Energy Wales can help you with this.

Consider coming along to our conference, where you will be able to meet community energy practitioners.