Neston Community Energy very much welcomes the ambition behind the gbe.gov.uk/local-power-plan, recently published by GB Energy. We strongly support the principle of locally owned clean power, and we see it as a vital opportunity for communities like ours to play a meaningful role in the energy transition.
However, for groups such as ours, the key issue is how this ambition will be translated into practical change. We would welcome more clarity on how and when legislation and regulation will be updated to enable community energy organisations to genuinely compete and participate in the energy sector. In particular, we need to understand:
- When reforms will be made to market rules so that community groups can sell power locally and directly
- How access to the grid, flexibility markets and pricing will be made fairer for small and community-scale generators
- When new supply and trading arrangements will be put in place that allow Local Energy Clubs and similar models to operate at scale
Without these changes, many of the opportunities promised by the Local Power Plan will remain difficult to realise in practice, regardless of how much local enthusiasm or project funding is available.
We are also keen to see central government policy driving more positive and effective partnerships between local authorities and community energy groups. In our experience whilst Cheshire West and Chester Council may want to work with community energy organisations like NCE, they are constrained by risk tolerance, procurement rules and a lack of clear national direction. A stronger policy framework that actively encourages councils to treat community energy as delivery partners — not just consultees — would unlock significant additional capacity and investment at local level.
