Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Worrying signs of 'community-washing' energy transition
LUKE FLETCHER is concerned by the vagueness of Great British Energy's promised benefits to communities in Wales
FOR THE MANY OR THE FEW? Gwynt y Mor offshore wind farm, Wales, 2017 owned jointly by RWE Renewables, Stadtwerke Munchen and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (former owners of Thames Water) [Llywelyn2000/CC]

BRITAIN has deliberately structured its plans to deliver change to the energy system around big business. The dependency on entities which have extraction at their heart have no regard for lowering energy bills, increasing energy security or combatting climate breakdown.

Central to Labour’s climate agenda has been the establishment of Great British Energy, a state-owned energy company tasked with driving the shift to renewables.

It has been hailed as a transformative step, with £8.3 billion set aside for the next parliamentary term. The funding has two key components: £3 billion for Labour’s Local Power Plan, a scheme allowing local governments to apply for funds to develop community energy projects, and £5 billion earmarked for co-investments.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
A view of the Little Cheyne Court Wind Farm amongst existing electricity pylons on the Romney Marsh in Kent
Climate Crisis / 27 April 2026
27 April 2026
OF LITTLE BENEFIT: All offshore wind farms in the UK are built on seabed leased from the Crown Estate so is Wales largest wind farm Gwynt y Mor where German RWE holds 50 per cent, Stadtwerke Munchen holds 30 per cent, Siemens holds 10 per cent and UK Green Investment Bank holds 10 per cent. Its output is capable of powering 30 per cent of the homes in Wales
Features / 28 June 2025
28 June 2025

JACKIE OWEN and DYLAN LEWIS-ROWLANDS argue that Welsh Labour conference this weekend is the be-all and end-all moment if Labour wants to avoid a rout at next year’s election

Wales / 19 June 2025
19 June 2025
Alex Gordon
Anti-arms / 23 May 2025
23 May 2025

RMT’s former president ALEX GORDON explains why his union supports defence diversification and a just transition for workers in regions dependent on military contracts, and calls on readers to join CND’s demo against nuclear-armed submarines on June 7