The UK’s net zero ambitions will be delivered locally – but many places lack a clear, consistent view of their energy system. Regen has worked with Innovate UK to address this gap by creating Local Energy Trackers for every UK local authority. The tool brings key datasets together in one place, helping councils, policymakers and communities better understand local progress and where action is needed. They cover more than 360 local authorities and 21 county councils in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Find them here.
Local authorities are at the heart of delivering a clean, secure and affordable energy system. From planning and housing to transport and local investment, decisions made at a local level will shape how quickly the transition happens.
But it can be difficult to build a clear, joined-up picture of the local energy system. Data is often spread across multiple sources, inconsistent between regions, and difficult to interpret without specialist resource. This can make confident, timely decision making harder to achieve.
Bringing local energy data into one place
To help address this, Regen has developed Local Energy Trackers for every UK local authority as part of Innovate UK’s Net Zero Living Programme.
The trackers bring together more than 30 publicly available datasets into a single, accessible platform, covering:
Energy use
Renewable generation
Heat and buildings
Transport
Carbon emissions.
This allows users to quickly understand how their area is performing and how it compares to national averages.
What the data shows
The data highlights how different local energy systems and patterns of uptake are across the UK.
Electric vehicles – uptake varies significantly between areas, with some urban authorities showing high adoption, while others remain at low levels
Heat pumps – deployment is concentrated in rural and off-gas areas, with major variation across regions
Renewable generation – local capacity is strongly influenced by geography, land availability and planning context.
These differences reflect local conditions – but also underline the need for place-specific strategies rather than one-size-fits-all approaches. The tracker is not intended to compare or rank areas, but to support each place in understanding its own context and opportunities.
How local efforts are shaping a more sustainable future across the UK.
A starting point for local action
The Local Energy Trackers are designed to support:
Local authorities building and monitoring net zero strategies
Internal engagement across council teams
Conversations with communities and stakeholders
Early-stage identification of opportunities and gaps.
They provide a shared evidence base to support more informed decision-making.
From insight to delivery
While the tracker provides a useful starting point, data alone is not enough. Turning insight into action requires deeper analysis, local context and interpretation, and coordination across planning, infrastructure and investment. This is where Regen supports local authorities and partners – helping to translate data into strategies and delivery plans.
What next
The Local Energy Trackers are a first step in making local energy data more accessible and actionable. We are continuing to develop the platform and are exploring opportunities to enhance comparison between areas, provide deeper insights and analysis, and support more advanced local energy planning.
We welcome feedback on how the tool can be improved and used in practice.
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