The Local Power Plan, published in February by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Great British Energy recognises the importance of local government in delivering climate commitments.
However, the sector remains constrained. Most local authorities have already delivered the easy wins and must now look to major projects to achieve the scale required to decarbonise while meeting increasing electricity demand and managing energy costs.
The continued pursuit of electrification inevitably challenges how we meet demand cleanly (National Policy EN1, Dec 2025) but there are significant prospects for councils as the energy market decentralises through local generation, including solar farms (experiencing falling costs) and community energy projects.
Our recent white paper Pipeline, PPAs and Production: Council-owned Electricity Generating Assets examined how councils are currently engaging with electricity-generating assets and the growing role of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). As you would expect regional distribution of local authority-owned assets varies significantly largely due to differences in land availability and local planning. The South East and West Midlands lead, but Department for Energy Security and Net Zero data shows a strong pipeline of preconstruction solar farms nationwide.
Solar dominates future local authority plans and wind is the second most common technology and may grow further following the easing of UK onshore wind planning rules in 2024. Councils with existing solar farms overwhelmingly report them as worthwhile and intend to build more, suggesting a snowball effect as expertise accumulates. Exporting electricity from an owned asset requires a Utility PPA with a licensed supplier. PPAs have a variety of ways to sell the electricity from the asset and choosing the right one for each circumstance is vital to maximise the value of a solar asset.
Our report's conclusion is that local authority ownership and investment in renewable electricity, especially solar farms, is set to grow, offering long term budget stability and reduced reliance on the wholesale market but planning, funding and renewable energy skills remain major obstacles.
It is a complex picture. Projects will require long-term planning, specialist support and expertise particularly for PPAs, to enable local authorities to realise the full benefits.
Eamon Grimes is Managing Director of LASER Energy, part of Commercial Services Group
