Community Energy Wales has welcomed the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales’ report, recently published.
With Wales’ energy future at a fundamental moment, Community Energy Wales are pleased to see specific recommendations in the Commission’s report seeking to establish an expert group on energy powers for Wales.
This proposed new group will “advise urgently on how the devolution settlement and inter-governmental engagement in relation to energy could be reformed to prepare for rapid technical innovation in energy generation and distribution”.
The decarbonisation of our energy system and the end of fossil fuels provides a host of opportunities for communities in Wales.
We face barriers in regulation that are hampering local trade, stopping communities from taking charge of their energy future. Giving communities the ability to sell renewable energy locally would reduce bills, increase energy security and reduce demand on our grid infrastructure.
Communities are best placed to lead decarbonisation. We as a country must grab hold of these opportunities now, to ensure that the benefits from them are retained in Wales, and are felt in our communities for generations to come.
Ben Ferguson and Leanne Wood, Co-executive Directors of Community Energy Wales said
“We welcome this report’s focus on the policy context in Wales, and what should be done to reform it. We have our own history in Wales around energy, one of exploitation and absent accountability. Community Energy is an opportunity to create a different story for the future”.
To find out more about community energy sector in Wales, read Community Energy Wales’ State of the Sector Report. State of the Sector 2023 (communityenergywales.org.uk)
If you want to see communities leading the decarbonisation of our energy system, sign up to RhanNi, the movement for community energy here: subscribepage.io/K7A905
