On 17 September 2026, Great British Energy opened the first round of People’s Power projects, releasing £30 million in initial support for councils, community energy organisations and advice providers. The government described the package as the first payment from the up to £1 billion set aside earlier in 2026 for local and community-led clean power.\n\nThe policy purpose is relatively clear. Ministers want more renewable generation to be owned closer to the places where it is built, so that savings and revenue remain in local circulation rather than flowing only to large energy companies.
The announcement says the wider programme is intended to support more than 1,000 projects across the UK over time. Eligible schemes range from solar panels on public or community buildings to village-scale wind and hydro projects, with the expectation that local bodies will control the asset or hold a formal share in it.\n\nThat shifts the emphasis from energy infrastructure alone to local economic retention. Reduced running costs for public buildings, income from exported power and reinvestment in community services are presented as part of the policy design, not as secondary benefits.
The largest single stream is the £20 million Community Fund for organisations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. According to the government’s criteria, grants can be used to test, develop and build community-owned clean energy assets, but applicants must show a defined legal and financial interest in the project and a defined share of benefits for the local community.\n\nIn policy terms, that requirement matters. It means public funding is being tied to ownership and benefit-sharing arrangements that can be evidenced, rather than to general claims of community support.
A separate £5 million Partnerships Grant is intended for Local Authorities in England working with community energy partners. The purpose is to speed up joint projects that can draw on council sites, procurement capacity and local delivery relationships while keeping a community role in ownership or long-term benefit.\n\nScotland is being handled through a different route. Great British Energy is allocating £1.8 million to the Scottish Government for its existing CARES support scheme, adding to more than £10 million provided earlier in the year. Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, up to £2.9 million is also being directed to advice services so that local groups can access technical and development support at an earlier stage.
Alongside the grant launch, the government said it will publish further detail this autumn on a model under which community energy groups could be offered an ownership stake in renewable projects developed in their area. If carried through, that would move the programme beyond capital support and towards a more durable shared-ownership framework.\n\nThe announcement explicitly compares the approach with practice in Germany and Denmark, where local participation in renewable ownership is more established. For UK policy, the important point is that communities could receive a continuing share of proceeds from generation, rather than relying only on one-off funds or indirect local benefits.
The funding package also sits beside earlier Great British Energy activity for public buildings in England’s Mayoral Combined Authorities. The government said more than 150 renewable projects have already switched on, and separately noted that 157 rooftop solar schemes have now been installed on sites including fire stations and leisure centres.\n\nThose projects are expected to deliver up to £50 million in total energy bill savings that can be recycled into local services. That gives the current announcement a delivery context: ministers are not presenting community power as a stand-alone idea, but as an extension of schemes already being used to reduce operating costs in the public estate.
In the government statement, Prime Minister Andy Burnham framed the policy as a response to public concern about climate change and to a sense that households have too little control over where energy comes from. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh presented the measures as a way to turn climate concern into local action after a summer of record-breaking temperatures.\n\nGreat British Energy chief executive Dan McGrail said the organisation wants every community to have the opportunity to build and own renewable generation. Community Energy England chief executive Dr Matt Vickers welcomed both the Community Fund and the Partnerships Grant as early delivery steps within the wider Local Power Plan.
For councils, co-operatives and community organisations, the immediate issue is practical readiness. Projects will need identifiable sites, workable governance and a clear route for local financial benefit if they are to match the criteria now set out by government.\n\nIn practical terms, the announcement creates four routes of support now while leaving one major element for later: the detailed design of the promised ownership stake model. Great British Energy is also seeking information from investors on future products, which indicates that this £30 million round is being treated as the opening phase of a larger financing and delivery programme.