Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of community energy networking.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is ambitious about the role of local and community energy in delivering our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. We will publish our Local Power Plan soon which will set out how we will work with communities to deliver significant growth in community energy.
Ministers and officials in the department, have visited community energy projects and attended events held by community energy affiliated organisations throughout this year, such as Community Energy England's Annual conference on 1st July 2025.
In March 2025, the department also hosted the DESNZ ‘Community Energy Day’, bringing together over 100 representatives from community energy groups and around 40 civil servants from across Government departments. The event provided a platform to showcase innovative projects, foster collaboration, and was widely regarded as a highly successful and energising day, with both ministerial and official attendance.
We also fund the Net Zero Hubs. The Net Zero Hubs also organise events, conferences and webinars across England to increase collaboration between local authorities and community groups, showcase funding opportunities, and increase the pipeline of community energy projects, like Northumberland Community Energy’s planned further rollout of rooftop solar panels.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of isolating the cost of electricity from natural gas.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24th October to my hon Friend the Member for Slough (TanmanJeet Singh Dhesi) to question UIN [14374].
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of peer-to-peer energy transfers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Peer-to-peer energy trading may, in some circumstances, support Government energy objectives, particularly those relating to community energy. The Department is working closely with Ofgem and other key stakeholders to determine how best to support local generation being matched with local demand.
The energy industry has also been working to make changes to industry rules to support the local trade of energy, including code modifications to the Balancing and Settlement Code, P442, and standardising the classification of local energy sites, P441.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of transferring excess solar energy from large corporations to (a) hospitals, (b) schools and (c) other public facilities.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Solar generators can export surplus electricity to the local network when generation exceeds onsite demand, helping to power local hospitals, schools and other public facilities. However, export decisions depend on costs and revenues, and the availability of network capacity. When the local grid is temporarily constrained, either due to high generation levels or low demand, exporting may be reduced. Ofgem and Distribution Network Operators are working to increase grid capacity and flexibility to support the integration of small-scale generators into the local electricity network, thereby supporting the Government’s decarbonisation ambitions.