Communities like Crawley are set to benefit from the opportunity to own and control their own energy projects thanks to a new Labour initiative.
The Government’s Local Power Plan delivers the biggest investment in community energy in UK history, giving communities control over local energy generation and the ability to use its profits to reinvest locally.
Over recent years, new economic development in Crawley has been hampered by capacity limitations with the town’s current grid connectivity. By generating more power closer to home, this limitation can be nullified, with local residents having control over the form it takes.
Communities will be able to express their interest in the £1bn of funding and advice on building clean energy projects in their town or village through Great British Energy, with a new ‘one stop shop’ set up for local energy.
Commenting on the announcement, Peter Lamb—MP for Crawley—said:
“The benefits of community-owned energy have been demonstrated time and time again, both overseas and in the UK. I am delighted with the Government’s announcement that communities like Crawley will be able to act to fix their local energy system and directly benefit from the profits it makes.”