Local authority officers are often time-constrained and overstretched, yet they play a critical role in enabling community energy to flourish. With this in mind, Regen was commissioned by London Councils to create clear, practical guidance to help them support and empower organisations in their area.
When asked what they needed to be able to better support community energy in their area, London borough officers cited a variety of challenges, but a few clear needs emerged:
Based on these, we worked with Repowering London to create a Community Energy Toolkit that offers clear guidance on typical situations and scenarios that local authority officers may encounter, particularly within London boroughs. It highlights templates for key documents, best practices from across the city and case studies to support officers’ work.
The toolkit centres around seven main sections (click to download):
1. The strategic case. This provides the knowledge and evidence to understand community energy and make the case to support it to senior leaders and politicians. It sets out the benefits that community energy projects can create, with links to studies and evidence.
2. Establishing and supporting community energy. Containing tips on how to map the community energy sector in your borough, identify local needs and design effective, equitable assistance.
3. Embedding community energy. Outlining how community energy can be embedded across a council’s operations.
4. Access to funding and finance. Providing detail on the different funding options for community energy and considerations for the borough in enabling these.
5. Setting up a community energy fund. Focusing on making a case for a community energy fund, as well as how to administer the fund.
6. Solar PV on council buildings. Providing an end-to-end overview of the technical, planning and procedural considerations involved in delivering community-led solar PV projects on council-owned buildings
7. Energy advice services. Reviewing the potential approaches to community-led energy advice and offering detailed considerations for boroughs when commissioning these services.
If you're looking to develop plain-English toolkits, guidance documents or other resources for local authorities or communities, please get in touch with Grace Millman.
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