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Community energy has been getting more attention since the government announced new funding for it back in September. But does the public actually know what it is?
The Local Power Plan sets out how communities across the UK can build and control their own clean energy supply, with councils and community groups awarded funding to hold at least part-ownership in projects. The nearly £30m is described as the first step in a £1bn investment in community and local energy.
Our latest Climate Barometer polling finds that only 11% of Britons know what community energy is, while 57% say they have never heard of it. But once told what it is, nearly 3 in 5 (59%) say they are interested.
Raising awareness of climate change as an ‘issue’ may no longer be viewed by many campaigners as the top priority (versus, for example, making policies fairer). But this policy is an example of where rising awareness is likely to quickly lead to not only greater support, but widen the pool of people who get to benefit – in large part because the policy has the potential to be ‘fair-by-design’.
Few Britons know what community energy is, especially those on lower incomes
Londoners are most likely to say that they have heard of community energy schemes and know what it is (18%), while Wales has the lowest awareness of any nation. Nearly two in three people in Wales (65%) have never heard of community energy, and only 10% say they know what it is.
Crucially, awareness of the concept of community energy is also lowest among those on the lowest incomes.
Just 8% of people earning under £20k say they have heard of community energy and know what it is, while 58% say they have not. Among those earning over £100k, 31% have heard of it and know what it is, and 25% have not.
With energy bills sky-high and the people on the lowest incomes paying a disproportionately higher share of their earnings on essentials like energy, then ensuring the “proceeds of clean power flow back into local areas” is most important in areas where those proceeds are most required.
Support is high, even where understanding is low
Despite a general lack of awareness of community energy as a concept, more than 2 in 3 Britons (68%) are generally supportive of policy proposals to help local communities to own, control, and benefit from their own renewable energy projects, and only 5% oppose it.
This holds true across the political spectrum: among people intending to vote for any of the major British parties, majority support is consistent and opposition to the policy proposal remains at 8% or less for those intending to vote Labour, Conservative, Reform, Lib Dem or Green.
The policy is also supported by 87% of MPs, including 89% of Labour MPs, 77% of Conservative MPs.
And the differing interpretations people have of what community energy is for all suggest a latent recognition of the multiple benefits a policy like this can bring.
When asked to list the primary aims of policies such as supporting local communities to own, control and benefit from their own renewable energy projects, 41% thought tackling climate change is the main aim, 35% saw it as intending to lower household bills and costs, and 35% said it is meant to encourage economic growth and create jobs.
So what does it all mean?
All of this suggests that community energy really could be the most ‘popular policy people haven’t heard of yet’.
Rising awareness will likely bring rising levels of support and engagement – because the benefits are tangible and can in principle be shared fairly (this is not self-evident in the design of all climate policies, and levels of support reflect this).
Leanne Wood and Ben Ferguson, Co-Executive Directors at Community Energy Wales told us they weren’t surprised by our findings:
“The community energy sector has limited reach for a number of reasons, including a general lack of awareness as to what community energy is. With people feeling the lack of agency and control over the green energy transition and their rising bills, many people seeing the transition as something that is happening to them, rather than with them. Community energy has the potential to change that and have a great impact.”
Indeed, they see reasons to be hopeful. With politicians in the Sennedd and Westminster backing community energy they believe the future for community energy is bright.
Our data shows these views are not unfounded, especially if awareness-raising can be coupled with a conscious push to build engagement among communities with the lowest incomes, and where the benefits from community ownership of energy could be the greatest.
Latest Climate Barometer tracking finds that people in Scotland and London are most likely to have seen measures to address climate change in their local area.
As highlighted in the chart below, people in Scotland are most likely to have noticed
Londoners are similar, but also noting more EV infrastructure, traffic reduction measures and flood defences. Londoners are also by far the most likely of all regions to have seen heat reduction measures implemented in their area.
Those in the North of England, Wales, England’s East and the Midlands, and the South are more likely than those in Scotland and London to say that they have seen ‘none of the above’ in their area.
This data points to emerging evidence for gaps and inequalities in the regional implementation of climate measures, building on other Climate Barometer tracker data showing income gaps around the same measures.
Policies proposed to address climate change are varied in scope. Our latest Climate Barometer tracker looks at whether many of these policies are seen by the public as ‘climate policies’ or whether they are believed to be targeting other issues.
Some policies are seen as primarily addressing climate change:
Many policies that involve improving the natural environment are seen as ‘protecting nature’ rather than tackling or responding/adapting to climate change:
Other urban infrastructure and design policies tend also to be seen as primarily addressing other issues:
And policies aiming to target the wealthy/ polluting groups are also less likely to be seen as outright climate policies
Policies often have multiple aims and goals, and whether policies are seen as ‘climate’ policies is not a problem in and of itself. In many cases, a climate policy being seen as a cost of living or nature protection measure may mean a wider section of society see its benefits. Crucially, it is important to be aware of how various policies are being ‘read’ by the public, and whether or not the aims of the policy are being understood.
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