[Photo credit: House of Commons photographer Jess Taylor.]
Bath’s Lib-Dem MP Wera Hobhouse had a question for the Prime Minister at today’s PMQs. Would he help efforts to reform community energy to unlock its full benefits for local residents?
Community energy enables local people to own and benefit from renewable energy projects. It has the potential to power 2.2 million homes, save 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, support around 9,000 jobs, and add over £1.8 billion to the economy each year. Despite their enormous potential, many projects face significant barriers, including difficulties connecting to the electricity grid and selling the electricity they generate.
The Bath MP – who is also a member of the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee – has campaigned for years for community energy, emphasising the benefits from slashing household energy bills to creating thousands of new jobs and boosting the UK’s economy.
Speaking during PMQs, the Bath MP highlighted that people living around a community energy project still cannot buy energy directly from projects in their areas because of complex market regulations.
She went on to use Beechen Cliff School in Bath as an example. In 2022, a rooftop solar system was installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE), comprising 680 solar panels that generate 262 kilowatts of power for the school.
BWCE is a non-profit, community-owned business and installed the rooftop solar system for free, meaning there were no upfront costs for the school. BWCE owns and manages the system and sells the generated electricity back to the school at a discounted price. In 2023, the rooftop solar system was estimated to have reduced the school’s carbon emissions by 52 tonnes per year and significantly cut its fuel costs.
However, the Bath MP noted that due to complex market regulations, local residents cannot buy the excess energy produced by community energy projects, such as the one at Beechen Cliff School. Instead, the project is forced to sell excess energy on the national energy market, where it will be sold at a higher price. This is particularly frustrating during the school holidays, for example, when the school uses significantly less energy than the system generates.
She concluded by asking the Prime Minister: “Will the Prime Minister support efforts to accelerate the pace of market reform to unleash the full potential of community energy?”
The Prime Minister responded to Mrs Hobhouse that he can “absolutely give her that assurance”, and offered to personally facilitate a meeting between the Bath MP and Great British Energy to discuss how the Local Power Plan can benefit her constituency.
Mrs Hobhouse’s comments follow the publication of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s recent report on community energy, which warned that projects risk being left behind unless the Government urgently introduces the reforms needed to help the sector grow. The report recommends that “the Government produces, within six months, a regulatory framework to allow community energy generators to sell electricity to local consumers”.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, commented:
“The solar panels at Beechen Cliff School are a great example of what is possible when communities are given the chance to generate their own energy. But it makes no sense that when those panels are producing more electricity than the school needs, local people cannot buy that excess power.
“At a time when families are struggling with high energy bills, we should be doing everything we can to make use of locally generated renewable energy and put more power into the hands of communities.
“The Government must urgently reform energy market regulations so that communities can benefit from the energy they generate, cut bills and build a cleaner, more affordable energy system.”
