GB Energy will invest in thousands of local clean energy projects, says Labour

Labour will on Monday announce that part of its plan to take back control of our energy, GB Energy - Labour’s publicly owned energy company - will partner with devolved governments, locally elected leaders, the private sector and communities with a Local Power Plan to build clean power in cities, towns and villages across Britain to boost national energy security and cut energy bills, as we turbocharge our mission for clean power by 2030.

This announcement will be made ahead of Labour’s 2030 clean power mission launch on Monday, which will cut the nation’s energy bills by £93 billion, which, combined with our Warm Homes plan, will reduce household energy bills by up to £1,400, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs, ending Britain’s energy crisis once and for all.

The Local Power Plan will see GB Energy develop up to 8GW of renewable energy projects – over twice the size of the of the world’s largest offshore wind farm- within five years, a contribution to delivering Labour’s mission for a clean power system by 2030.

GB Energy will partner with councils and communities to put solar panels on public land or the roofs of housing estates; empower local communities to come forward with projects directly owned by local people; and build partnerships with the governments of Scotland, Wales and regional mayors to develop their own local clean power plans.

To crowd in private investment, GB Energy will also offer co-investment opportunities for the private sector in larger projects such as onshore wind and solar farms. It will extend and strengthen existing shared ownership models in Scotland and Wales. This will accelerate and crowd in private investment, building on the successful partnership models in countries such as Germany.

The crucial condition of the investment will be that local communities see the benefit of the clean power in direct cost of living support – for example through discounts on energy bills.

This approach stands in stark contrast with the Conservatives’ dismal failure to deliver energy security for Britain. While they block power and everybody loses, Labour will build power with lower bills for all, and benefits for communities.

The scheme will also boost the UK’s energy security with decentralised energy, reducing pressure on the grid and accelerating our nation’s transition away from the international fossil fuel market that leaves us at the mercy of dictators like Vladimir Putin.

GB Energy will make this project happen by making available up to £600m in funding for local authorities and up to £400m low-interest loans each year for communities, creating up to a million owners of renewable power by 2030. The loans in the scheme would be recycled back to GB Energy to invest in future projects.

Keir Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“The next Labour government will be builders not blockers when it comes to cheaper clean power. I want local people to see the benefit of that power and with Labour they will.

“We will bring power home with our GB Energy, a publicly owned energy company building clean power for the first time in generations, with the profits flowing back to the British people.

“People want to know what our plans mean for their community: From onshore wind in Wales, to rooftop solar panels in our cities, to community energy in Scotland, Labour will seize the power of Britain’s sun, wind and water to put cheaper clean power in the grid and profits in the pockets of the British people.”

Ed Miliband MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy Secretary, said:

“In every other country driving forward with clean power, publicly owned energy generation is creating wealth and benefitting local people, but not Britain.

“This country needs change, and a plan to put an end to the energy bills crisis once and for all.

“That is what Labour’s mission of making the UK a clean energy superpower will do and with GB Energy, Labour will give the British people real control over and benefit from the energy system. 

“This is what taking back control looks like, this is what bringing down energy bills for all looks like.”

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Endorsements:

Steve Rotheram, Labour Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:

“This announcement today is great news for my area – and for anybody who cares about tackling the climate emergency. It is only through collective effort that we can turn the tide on climate change and, in GB Energy, we have an exciting proposal that will empower local leaders to lead the race to decarbonisation in their own areas to the benefit of local residents through good, well-paid, unionised jobs and cheaper, cleaner energy.

“It’s a welcome alternative to Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party whose only interest in energy seems to be that wasted on scandal, incompetence and fighting amongst themselves. The choice facing voters at the next election could not be starker.

“I’ve got ambitious plans to make the Liverpool City Region the UK’s Renewable Energy Coast, through transformational schemes like Mersey Tidal Power, hydrogen production and the expansion of traditional green energy sources like wind and solar. Only Labour has the vision and commitment to help make that happen.”

Tom Glover, RWE UK Country Chair, said:

“RWE has a strong track record of developing low carbon projects in partnership with local communities, both in the UK and in other markets. We welcome the underlying aims in the proposed ‘Local Power Plan’ to strengthen local support and deployment for clean energy projects - it is vital that people have the opportunity to engage and can benefit from such projects in their local communities.”

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Notes

• The condition of community benefit under the Local Power Plan is part of Labour’s approach to energy policy: we will enshrine a principle that wherever clean power infrastructure is being built, local communities must see a benefit.
• It will be followed by Labour unveiling reforms to planning to further unleash the private sector investment to deliver clean power by 2030 and deliver jobs for Britain.
• This scheme will bring Britain in line with the established practice in European countries which have high levels of distributed power generation; the early success of wind cooperatives in Denmark means 52% of wind energy is community-owned, and in Germany, at least 50% of onshore wind is citizen-owned thanks to the accelerated delivery of clean power via local authorities (Source) 

Examples of schemes that will benefit:

• Fintry Wind Farm in Scotland is 7% owned by the community in partnership with a private developer, with a share of the wind farm's profits driven back into the local community to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds. (Source)
• Plymouth Council works with Plymouth Energy Community to develop solar and wind projects, whose profits are channelled back into a community fund. (Source)
• Lawrence Weston council estate in Bristol was helped by grant funding and private capital to build and own Britain’s largest wind turbine on Bristol City Council land, which generates surplus profits for the estate to spend on retrofit. (Source)