An amendment to the Great British Energy Bill which went through on Tuesday evening will see the state-owned company support community energy initiatives.
The government will amend the legislation that establishes its flagship energy company to reference energy projects that benefit local communities, enabling GB Energy to promote the growth of community-led projects.
The move follows advocacy from community energy campaigners led by environmental nonprofit Power for the People, a cross-party group of MPs and peers. The amendment was put forward by Philip Hunt, baron of Kings Heath and minister of state for the department of energy security and net zero (DESNZ).
Over 80 MPs supported the amendment, which was tabled by the Liberal Democrats. According to Power for the People, until last week government ministers had expressed support for community energy but declined to include it.
In a Peers Briefing delivered by the nonprofit at the start of this month, Power for the People pointed out that the company set up by the Bill would have no legislative requirement to support community energy, which has “faced years of stop-start policy that has prevented it from growing at the rates seen in other countries”.
Director of Power for the People David Shaw said of the amendment being made: “This support for the sector will give it and potential investors much-needed confidence. Community-run clean energy projects currently generate just 0.5% of the UK’s electricity but could – if enabled with policy decisions like this – be powering millions of homes and saving millions of tonnes of CO2 within the next ten years.”
The GB Energy Bill is in the Report stage in the House of Lords, having passed through a second reading in the House of Commons in September 2024. It will now go back to the House of Commons and royal assent is expected soon afterwards.
The Great British Energy Bill, while a step in establishing the Great British Energy company, does little to move the project forward materially: its ‘long title’ is A Bill to make provision about Great British Energy.
It means the secretary of state, Ed Miliband, must provide a “statement of strategic priorities for Great British Energy”, after consulting Welsh and Scottish ministers. It further states that the secretary of state will own the energy company, but it is “not to be regarded as a servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown”.
GB Energy’s objectives are the production, distribution, storage and supply of clean energy, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from energy produced from fossil fuels, improvements in energy efficiency, and measures to ensure the security of the supply of energy.
