Comments on policy or other news from the BEC team.
Earlier this month we stood in Parliament Square spelling out the need to ‘Up the Energy’ on government commitments to expanding community-owned energy. The illuminated words accompanied the delivery of an open letter, signed by 250 people and organisations led…
Hope for a fair transition from fossil fuels that puts power in the hands of communities has received a boost with the release of the government’s Local Power Plan (LPP) today. The much anticipated plan sets out how the government…
Today is an exciting day for community energy, as Labour is elected to form our next government. Under recent Conservative governments, lack of investment and political will has held us back. This could all be about to change. Labour’s Local…
Change is in the air. The General Election on 4th July is a crucial chance to elect a government that will turbocharge community-owned renewable energy: accelerating the just transition to net zero while tackling inequality and enabling communities to have…
As Bristol Energy Cooperative has commented, we believe the government’s new £10 million community energy fund is nowhere near enough – particularly as it continues to prop up the fossil fuel industry. But there is a positive side to this…
Dear Prime Minister, This is an open letter from energy cooperatives across the country to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following the King’s Speech – will you be on the right side of history? We are facing a climate emergency and…
Last week (26 Oct) saw the Energy Act 2023 become law after a very long passage of the Energy Bill through parliament. Broadly welcomed by the energy industry, the Act contains many elements that help advance the energy transition, some…
Following the prime minister’s u-turns on net zero targets, our co-director Andy O’Brien makes clear the direction we need to go from here. In the prime minister’s recent climate targets U-turn speech he frequently mentioned honesty and transparency. But much…
Dame Priti Patel says that the public are “not ready” for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy,and that we don’t have the technology to meet our net zero targets. But the experience of our OperationsDirector Paul Chandler tells…
We often talk about political will when it comes to tackling the climate crisis. Over the last few weeks, amid record-high temperatures and continued drought, politicians seem to be at odds over the role of community-owned energy in fuelling the…