For more information on community energy and to see examples of community energy projects, you can visit Community Energy England’s website.
Community energy is when a group of people come together to develop their energy project. In most cases, these projects involve generating renewable energy, but they can also involve improving energy efficiency. Most community energy groups are Community Benefit Societies, which are similar to co-operatives.
Community energy projects are funded mostly through loans and community share offers. Community share offers are are a way of raising investment capital from communities. The profits generated by the energy projects are used to repay the investors with a return, and to benefit the wider community as well. Investors become members of their Society, and have a say on how its projects are run.
To date, the community energy sector has raised over a quarter of a billion pounds of investment for low carbon projects and initiatives. In 2019, investment in the community energy sector totalled £31m. This was primarily made up of loans (approx. £23m) and community share offers (approx. £5m).