Local Power Only Works if it Works for People

If clean energy is going to win hearts as well as spreadsheets, it will be because communities can see and feel the benefit - on the pitch at the leisure centre, in the warmth of a living room or on the balance sheet of a school that can finally replace leaking windows. That’s why the Local Power Plan matters. It moves community energy from the edges of the system to the centre, with GBE putting up to £1bn on the table and, crucially, pairing finance with hands-on capability, templates and routes to market. This is not just more funding; it’s an operating model for delivery. 

Three things stand out. 

First, it recognises that capital alone doesn’t deliver. Community groups and councils have been rich in motivation and poor in bandwidth for decades. The promise of standardised project tools “Community Energy in a Box” plus expert advisory support is precisely what turns an idea into an investable project. We’ve seen time and again that the friction isn’t only grid connections or planning; it’s the dozens of little steps that sap momentum. Systematising those steps is how you scale to 1,000+ projects by 2030.  

Second, it takes revenue seriously. Too many good projects have struggled because the market didn’t reward local generation fairly or predictably. The plan’s intent to build repeatable, bankable business models including local and virtual PPAs, aggregation and Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) is the unlock. When communities know how power will be sold, stored and shared, private capital follows and benefits stay local. The case studies are telling: smart grid pilots cutting standard bills by 40–60%; social housing solar programmes saving residents real money while building resilience. This is not theory; it’s lived results that can be templated and multiplied.  

Third, it uses policy to widen the tent. The upcoming consultation on a mandatory shared ownership offer for low-carbon infrastructure is overdue. If done well, it will let communities who can’t host a turbine still own a stake and a say. Coupled with ongoing work on market code modifications (P441, P442, P444, P415) and grid connection reform, that’s a clearer path from ambition to action. 

From where I sit, working daily with local authorities and housing providers, there’s an obvious place to start: social housing and public estates.  

These portfolios combine scale with social purpose. They are where fabric-first retrofit, rooftop solar and community batteries translate into warmer homes, lower demand and predictable costs for those who need it most. The plan’s early investments £16m with mayors, £21.5m across devolved nations, and up to £255m for schools, NHS and defence sites show the system learning by doing.  

Let’s build from that and measure what matters: £/kWh saved, EPC uplift, resident outcomes, and programme level delivery at pace.  

Where Sureserve fits. Our role in the clean energy workstream is practical: put qualified people where it matters most, integrate fabric, heat and power, and keep residents at the centre. That means: 

• Delivery partnerships with councils, combined authorities and community energy groups combining the plan’s grants and loans with on the ground engineering, compliance and long-term maintenance.
• Bankable delivery models that align with GBE’s toolkit so projects progress from feasibility to construction finance to stable operation and, where appropriate, community coownership. 
• Skills and safety. You can’t scale SLES or mass rooftop solar without a competent, accredited workforce across heat pumps, PV, battery storage and metering, backed by a safety first culture and resident first communication. That blend of skills and trust is what keeps homes warm and programmes on track.  

Four tests for success and how we’ll help meet them: 

1. Speed with standards: Templates, yes, but not cookie cutter. We’ll adapt the “box” to the building, ensuring design quality and lifecycle maintenance are locked in from day one. 
2. Resident impact: Every kilowatt installed should be a story a resident can tell, lower direct debits, fewer damp and mould callouts, rooms that hold their heat. If we aren’t narrowing the fuel poverty gap, we’re missing the point. 
3. Data that earns confidence: Programme level dashboards tracking kWh reduction, EPC uplift and outage free days in public services build the case for iteration and reinvestment.
4. Community wealth: Shared ownership should not be a side conversation; it’s the principle that keeps benefits local and support enduring. We’ll work with partners to structure offers that communities can genuinely access and trust. 

The opportunity is to convert good policy into thousands of real projects. With GBE’s offer now live and the regulatory plumbing being fixed, delivery partners and community groups can move together at pace. If we get this right, “local power” won’t be a label; it’ll be the lived experience of streets, schools and surgeries that run cleaner, cost less and belong to the people they serve.  

That’s how you build pride in place and momentum that lasts.