'Today we're changing that by giving people power,' Prime Minister Andy Burnham said as ministers opened a £30 million Great British Energy package aimed at handing more control of clean power to councils and community groups on Thursday 17 September 2026. (gov.uk) For places that are used to watching energy bills rise while decisions are taken elsewhere, the offer is plain: build local generation, keep more of the savings close to home and give towns and villages a bigger say over what gets built in their patch. (gov.uk)

The scheme covers the sort of projects many northern councils and community co-ops have been pushing for years: solar on public buildings, village-owned wind, and hydro schemes in local rivers. Government says the aim is to let communities cut bills, grow local wealth and move away from fossil fuels after a summer of record temperatures and extreme weather. (gov.uk) That matters well beyond the climate brief. When power is owned locally, the savings do not stop at a lower electricity bill; they can help keep libraries open longer, protect leisure centres, and free up money in public services that have been stretched for years. That is the case ministers and Great British Energy are now making with fresh urgency. (gov.uk)

This first round is a downpayment on the wider Local Power Plan announced in February, which set out up to £1 billion for community and local energy and an ambition to back more than 1,000 projects by 2030. Applications have now opened for new grants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while Scotland is getting £1.8 million through the Scottish Government's existing CARES support route. (gov.uk) The funding split is practical rather than flashy. There is £20 million for community groups to test, develop and build community-owned clean energy assets, £5 million for partnerships between English local authorities and community energy organisations, and up to £2.9 million for advice services to help smaller groups get schemes off the drawing board. Projects backed through the main community fund must show a clear legal and financial stake for local people, with a defined share of benefits staying in the area. (gov.uk)

For northern readers, the most useful clue is what Great British Energy has already started on civic buildings. The government says more than 150 renewable projects have now switched on across England's Mayoral Combined Authorities, and that the wider programme could deliver up to £50 million in energy bill savings for local services. (gov.uk) Earlier rounds have already pointed to the sort of place-based model ministers want more of: rooftop solar for care homes in Liverpool City Region, solar on leisure centres and libraries in Yorkshire, and installations on libraries, fire stations, police stations and sports centres in Greater Manchester. Across England's mayoral authorities, 157 rooftop solar projects are now installed under Great British Energy-backed schemes. (gov.uk)

Ministers are also promising something communities have long asked for: a route to actual ownership when larger renewable projects are built nearby. The government says it will publish more detail this autumn on plans for community energy groups to be offered a stake in renewable schemes, with the proceeds flowing back into local areas rather than disappearing straight to outside investors or major energy firms. (gov.uk) That would move Britain closer to the shared-ownership approach already more common in countries such as Germany and Denmark. For towns that often feel they host infrastructure without seeing enough return, that detail could matter as much as the headline grant money. (gov.uk)

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said the government was putting 'power in the hands of people and places', while Great British Energy chief executive Dan McGrail said the goal was for every community to have the chance to build and own renewable energy. Community Energy England, through chief executive Dr Matt Vickers, called the new fund a 'first step' and said councils and community enterprises had long wanted a partnership pot that could help them work together. (gov.uk) The politics of this will be argued over, but the local test is simpler. If the cash reaches credible schemes quickly, and if smaller groups get the advice needed to make bids stack up, this could become more than another Whitehall announcement. It could give councils, co-operatives and neighbourhood organisations a new income stream rooted in the places that generated it. (gov.uk)