How the local power plan can deliver on net zero
Originally published the Local Government Chronicle [25/03/25]
Domestic energy security and supply has been prominent in the news in rather different ways for energy security and net zero secretary Ed Miliband. For once it wasn’t the third runway which blazed the media trail for Heathrow airport to dominate the news cycle. A small comfort, perhaps, on a day in which the former Labour party leader was seeking to capitalise on the first major announcement of Great British Energy (GB Energy) to supply 200 schools and hospitals with solar panels as well as a community fund.
With both the Conservatives under Kemi Badenoch and Reform now having broken the political consensus for net zero, the progress made by GB Energy, the publicly owned clean energy company, is likely to come under more intense scrutiny than before.
Its creation signals a significant acceleration in the nation’s decarbonisation agenda. And a key component of this ambition, the Local Power Plan, holds the potential to fundamentally reshape how energy is generated and consumed at a local level.
This is something Localis has been investigating in our report commissioned by E.ON UK entitled ‘Generating Hope – local power in partnership’. For local authorities, already recognised as essential in achieving net zero given the significant portion of UK carbon emissions within their scope of action, the Local Power Plan offers a vital opportunity to drive meaningful change.
Local authorities have long been at the forefront of sustainability efforts, yet their progress has often been hampered by inconsistent central government support, frequently characterised by underfunding and piecemeal initiatives. The Local Power Plan, with its stated aim of supporting local and combined authorities, as well as community energy groups, through funding and assistance for small and medium-scale renewable energy projects, offers a chance to rectify this. To genuinely empower local action, the plan must learn from past experiences and proactively address the many technical, financial, and political barriers that hinder the further deployment of renewable energy.
One promising avenue for progress lies in the fostering of strategic, long-term energy partnerships between councils and other stakeholders. These public-private collaborations offer a transformative approach to decentralising and decarbonising the UK’s energy system, with the added benefits of empowering communities and reinvesting profits locally. By fostering direct collaboration among local energy stakeholders, these partnerships could bypass traditional barriers to innovation such as fragmented decision-making structures and lengthy tender processes, allowing for more agile and resilient responses to local energy challenges.
The success of these partnerships, however, will hinge on their alignment with, and flexibility around, evolving policy at both local and national levels. To facilitate this, central government should build on successful examples of strategic energy partnerships to produce a contracting framework for local authorities looking to procure long-term public-private partnerships.
Furthermore, effective energy planning, embedded within the broader framework of Local and Neighbourhood Plans, is essential for integrating sustainability into local strategies. The government’s commitment to planning reform, aimed at unblocking supply and delivering 1.5 million homes, presents a crucial opportunity to ensure new development aligns with local stakeholder discretion and community needs, injecting environmental sustainability and energy efficiency into local areas.
To fully leverage this, the government should produce legislation to formalise local area energy planning (LAEPs), potentially by integrating them with the Local Plan process or ensuring that completed and approved Local Plans have a statutory LAEP attachment.
These plans should then feed into future iterations of the National Energy System Operator’s (NESO’s) strategic spatial energy plan, providing a clearer national picture of future grid demand. Importantly, frameworks for producing LAEPs should not be overly restrictive, allowing for essential local variation.
Former Bristol Mayor Lord Marvin Rees used to say that to win popular local consent, it is necessary to first win the ‘locker room’ by showing actual proof of policy at a local level that can be seen and felt by communities in the shape of better jobs, higher wages or improved skills. Indeed, gaining and maintaining public trust and engagement is another critical element for successful renewable energy deployment. To foster trust, quantifiable benefits such as job creation, local economic multipliers, and overall reductions in carbon emissions must be documented and published, providing communities with material evidence that projects are delivering tangible results.
At the central government level, alleviating the upfront capital burden of renewable infrastructure from energy bills is an economic and political imperative, especially amidst the ongoing cost of living crisis. The government should also consider the reintroduction of feed-in tariffs to help enable wider participation.
To truly enable the Local Power Plan, concerted action will be required across government departments. This includes integrating the ambitions of GB Energy with the coming planning system changes, the net zero strategy, and the national strategic spatial energy plan.
Central government must also consolidate funding streams for clean energy projects in local areas and provide local authorities with support in procurement and contracting to access complex markets, potentially through the Local Net Zero Hub network.
Furthermore, investing in local government skills programmes is crucial to allow councils to recruit, train, and retain staff capable of engaging effectively with the energy market. Capacity support for planning applications, perhaps through a central government-funded support hub, is also needed to accelerate the planning process for new local infrastructure.
Building community capacity to engage with energy projects, through government-funded training and development, and establishing regional energy data centres to support evidence-led local planning are further essential steps. Finally, streamlining the application process for grid connection will help communities realise the benefits of renewable energy projects faster.
Delivering a successful Local Power Plan demands a collaborative effort. Local government must provide robust data and measurement mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation, target quantifiable benefits to local communities, develop innovative financial instruments like Community Municipal Investments and Green Bonds, and embed Green Public Procurement practice.
Private sector partners, for their part, should practice meaningful community consultation, prioritise local job creation, and work with local supply chains to ensure the retention of economic benefits.
In the Local Power Plan, we have a significant opportunity to empower local authorities and accelerate the transition to clean energy. By learning from past experiences, fostering strategic partnerships, embedding robust energy planning, prioritising community engagement, and ensuring adequate funding and support, the government can enable local areas to become true drivers of the UK’s decarbonisation ambitions. All something that might add up to a good news day for beleaguered energy secretaries.
Jonathan Werran is chief executive, Localis