Community Energy England: Experiences of shared ownership - Policy Brief

The Local Power Plan, published in February 2026, set out a vision for every community in the UK to have the opportunity to own a local power project. To achieve this goal, the Government also committed to consulting on introducing a mandatory approach to shared ownership offers.

In Summer 2026, I collaborated with Community Energy England (CEE) to create a policy brief outlining the benefits of shared ownership of commercially-owned energy infrastructure, in the words of developers who have engaged with the practice.

Publication is expected in Autumn 2026, with the document forming part of CEE's engagement with Government and industry partners.

Methodology and engagement

Interviewees were recruited via Community Energy England’s contacts, and particularly via intermediary groups who have collaborated with developers directly to develop their shared ownership offers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior leaders within developers who have direct experience of implementing shared ownership, in addition to key partners such as funders and consultants. 

Questions were developed collaboratively with CEE and adapted for each interview, reflecting the variety of shared ownership experience (e.g. spanning a range of shared ownership structures such as co-operative revenue share, joint venture or full community ownership, and a range of stages of project development). 

European counterparts, reached via parallel national and EU-wide umbrella organisations, were also contacted, to understand the international landscape on shared ownership and different approaches taken to strengthen the case put forward by advocacy groups. 

Key themes and findings

Although individual experiences varied, several consistent themes emerged across conversations. Shared ownership was seen to strengthen community support for projects, offer planning advantages (albeit currently marginal, given restrictions in planning policy), and reduce cost and risk over time as the practice matures and scales.

Interviewees also pointed to a set of structural enablers: giving shared ownership greater weight in planning decisions, developing standardised templates to reduce complexity, and building sector capacity. Incentive mechanisms, particularly priority grid connections and preferential CfDs were raised as ways to accelerate wider adoption.

Outputs

The briefing will be used as part of Community Energy England’s discussions with DESNZ, GB Energy etc, and may form the basis of a subsequent roundtable event bringing together key stakeholders and developers who have already engaged with shared ownership. Engagement is planned via the Energy Learning Network to share learnings more widely within the sector. It will also inform consultation submissions once the consultation on community benefits and shared ownership is opened.

“Working with Katy on this research and report has been a pleasure. She grasped the brief immediately and contributed creatively to expanding its reach and remit to include a European perspective. She consulted concisely at every stage and took suggestions. She arranged and designed all the interviews and conducted them effectively in a way that the interviewees seem to have found conducive. She conducted the sign-off process with interviewees and the draft report is clear and admirably concise. We would be very happy to work with Katy on similar work in the future.”

Duncan Law - Head of Policy and Advocacy, Community Energy England

Skills

• Policy analysis and synthesis

• Qualitative research skills

• Stakeholder engagement