February 2025
Energy Local is a UK-wide social enterprise that supports communities to establish Energy Local Clubs, a form of local energy market. Our small team collaborates remotely from locations across Lancashire and Yorkshire, and at the top and tail of Wales. Now our latest (home) office location is the Scotland, which hosts a strong community energy sector.
Our new club development manager is Mhairi Tordoff, who lives in the village of Kinlochleven in the Scottish Highlands – coincidentally a pioneering location in the 1900s for hydro energy. She explains why she’s joined our team…
Scotland is more than pulling its weight on renewable generation and securing its (and the UK’s) energy future.
In 2023, Scotland had 15.3 gigawatts (GW) of renewable electricity capacity, accounting for just over 25% of the UK's total renewable generation.
Scotland achieved a milestone in 2022 by generating the equivalent of 113% of its electricity consumption from renewable sources, marking the first time the country produced more renewable energy than it consumed.
An obvious challenge is the intermittent nature of renewable generation, but for communities, there is another sticking point – what’s in it for them, as large turbines and high voltage cables in their area provide electricity to populations many miles away?
What is the community benefit for people living near renewables?
Under the Scottish Government’s Good Practice Principles, developers of onshore renewable energy projects should contribute £5,000 a year per MW of electricity to community benefit funds. This is voluntary but has seen grants for community groups and projects ranging from village hall upgrades to employment support.
Many communities are also benefiting from the 1,028 MW of installed capacity from community and locally owned generation, which tends to provide more community benefit per MW.
However, despite growing community benefit funds, local residents have historically seen no benefit to the bottom line of their bills.
Rural fuel poverty
According to the Scottish definition, around 34% of households in Scotland overall were in fuel poverty in 2023, with 19.4% in extreme fuel poverty. On both counts, fuel poverty rates had grown slightly on 2022, and were also particularly acute in rural areas.
For many, high energy costs stem from heat-inefficient housing and a lack of gas grid connection.
When I first moved to Kinlochleven, our small-terraced house had no insulation and, in the absence of gas, was warmed by plug-in electric heaters. Our first electric bill was an eye-watering £400 - and trust me we were not blasting the heating! This is despite Kinlochleven being a significant exporter of renewable power from one large and several smaller hydroelectric schemes.
Tackling an injustice
This mismatch – areas hosting increasing levels of renewable generation while local people endure growing levels of fuel poverty – has always struck me as an injustice. I have a longstanding interest in community energy and always wondered what more could be done to enable local people to share more of the benefit of renewable generation.
My Master’s was in Climate Change, Development & Policy, and my dissertation looked at the benefits from community-led renewable developments in Na h-Eileanan an Iar (the Western Isles, Scotland). It was here I first came across the mismatch between renewable generation capacity and high fuel poverty.
Because of my research into the topic, I was asked to curate a conference on community energy generation. Scotland has a vibrant community energy sector that delivers economic benefits, but we realised at the time it wasn’t possible for households to benefit directly from local generation through reduced bills.
I went on to work for a youth climate action charity and, after my move to Kinlochleven, the Highlands & Islands Climate Hub – and then Energy Local came to my attention.
Potential for lowering bills
It’s exciting to be working on the solution to a problem I came across a few years ago. The Energy Local model opens the door to communities potentially enjoying lower bills and small-scale generators earning a higher price for their power.
I’m glad to be playing a small part in tackling an injustice that many households across Scotland are facing. Working on the financial modelling for a possible Energy Local Club in Barra & Vatersay in Na h-Eileanan an Iar has been a nice full circle moment.
I’m looking forward to working with more communities across the UK to support them in rolling out this model in their area and taking more control over their bills.
More information on how Energy Local works can be found here.