Metro mayors will be able to bid for a share of the £10m pot as part of GB Energy’s plans to back local energy projects across the UK so communities can reap the benefits
Mayors will get a £10 million boost to build locally-owned clean power projects across the country, creating jobs and cutting energy bills, it can be revealed.
State-owned Great British Energy will inject cash into homegrown projects like rooftop solar, onshore wind and hydropower – with profits reinvested into the community or used to knock money off locals’ energy bills.
Metro mayors will be able to bid for a share of the £10m pot as part of GB Energy’s plans to back local energy projects across the UK so communities can reap the benefits.
Existing community energy projects are already creating benefits for locals – and the government believes extra funding will allow these projects to go “further and faster.”
They include the Solar Together Consortium, which aims to deliver 240MW of solar capacity across the West Midlands.
And in West Yorkshire, another initiative is working to install 1,500 solar and battery storage systems in social housing across the region – slashing bills and helping tackle fuel poverty.
GB Energy chair Jurgeon Maier said the fund would make an “immediate impact as we roll out clean, homegrown energy projects, crowd in investment and create job opportunities across the country.”
It comes as GB Energy launched its first major national project, installing solar panels on 200 schools and 200 NHS sites, and saving them hundreds of millions of pounds on their energy bills.
Savings will be reinvested in schools and the NHS, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said, providing “power for pupils and patients.”
“Parents at the school gate and patients in hospitals will experience the difference Great British Energy can make,” he said.
“This is our clean energy superpower mission in action, with lower bills and energy security for our country.”
Merseyside mayor Steve Rotheram (CORR) welcomed the new fund.
“The Liverpool City Region is at the forefront of the UK’s green industrial revolution,” he said.
“This partnership with Great British Energy is another step towards taking back control of our energy and using it to power our communities.”
And Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester said his region was already “powering ahead” with plans.
“Our Go Neutral programme is delivering millions of pounds of investment in local renewable energy, generating enough to power 5,500 homes, and we’re supporting schools in our city-region to install solar cells and help cut bills,” he said.
“We’re ready to work with Great British Energy to take these plans to the next level, so we can boost local projects that will help bring down costs and power more of our network with homegrown energy.”
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London said: “This exciting partnership complements my greener schools programme and community energy task force and means that we will be able to invest even more in innovative local clean power projects across the capital, lowering energy bills and creating good jobs.
“It is also a boost to our work for London to achieve Net Zero by 2030 as we strive to create a greener, healthier city for the future.”
North Yorkshire mayor David Skaith said the announcement was “brilliant news.”
He said: “I’m determined to see us become England’s first carbon negative region by 2040, and right now we’re creating the strategy which will drive that ambition.
“I’ll be working closely with Great British Energy to get the most out of this funding, which has the potential to cut greenhouse emissions, create economic growth and lower energy bills for residents of York and North Yorkshire.”
Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “Empowering local people to generate their own clean energy fits with our mission to help our communities become stronger and more resilient, while also lowering bills and creating jobs.
“In Cambridgeshire and Peterborough we already have examples of communities coming together to take control of their energy needs, and this funding will further support a shift clean, homegrown power.”
Dan Norris, the Mayor of the West of England, said: “Communities in the West of England have already built our country’s largest on-shore wind turbine, powering a local charity and thousands of homes, while we also explore getting clean thermal power from disused mines.
“Great British Energy will further turbo-charge renewable power in our region, attract even more investment in green technology, create decent-paying jobs, and drive economic growth.
“We can save money on people’s energy bills, help the planet, and power our own future. Mayors working closely with the Government are crucial to delivering real change, and this latest investment is another step on the journey of national renewal.”
‘Labour’s Great British Energy is such a game-changer’
By STEVE ROTHERAM, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region
FOR too long, Britain’s energy system has been broken.
Bills have soared, profits have flowed out of our communities, and too many decisions have been made in Westminster or boardrooms far removed from the people they affect most.
For years, working people have been left to pick up the tab while big energy firms and foreign states rake in the profits. That’s why Labour ’s Great British Energy is such a game-changer.
This is about taking back control of our energy and ensuring that the benefits of Britain’s clean power revolution go back into communities rather than the hands of private shareholders.
Our Labour government will break the cycle of rip-off bills and underinvestment, replacing it with a system that works for people, not profit.
Rather than being dependent on expensive imports, we’ll be generating homegrown power, cutting bills, creating jobs, and securing our energy future.
Nowhere is better placed to lead this charge than the Liverpool City Region – the UK’s Renewable Energy Coast.
We’ve never been afraid to innovate, and we’re already proving how clean, locally led energy can transform lives.
Plans are well underway to develop Mersey Tidal Power, the biggest project of its kind in the world, with the potential to generate clean, predictable energy for 120 years and create thousands of high-skilled jobs in the process.
We’re also home to HyNet North West, which has secured a share of £22 billion in government investment to develop carbon capture and low-carbon hydrogen, creating 4,000 jobs while helping to decarbonise heavy industry.
And we’re rolling out a local heat network, which will cut carbon by 2,000 tonnes a year and provide low-cost, low-carbon heating for thousands of homes and businesses.
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With Great British Energy’s £10 million partnership with metro mayors, we can go even further, supercharging our region’s progress while ensuring that communities across Britain share in the benefits.
This is the power of public ownership in action: a Labour government working with local leaders to deliver for people, not profit.
We’ve seen this model work before. Just look at my region’s publicly owned Merseyrail trains – cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable because they’re run for passengers, not private shareholders.
The same tired Tory thinking that left us with broken rail franchises also left us with an energy market that prioritised shareholder dividends over people’s bills. If we can take back control of our transport, we can do it for energy too.
But the importance of clean power isn’t just about hitting climate targets. It’s about delivering good jobs, economic security, and lower bills.
It will fuel British industry, drive investment, and create thousands of well-paid jobs for engineers, fitters, and planners up and down the country.
Britain has some of the best natural energy resources in the world, and now, with Great British Energy, Labour has the political will to unlock them.
The Liverpool City Region is ready to lead the charge, but this is a national mission, and every community that wants to be part of it should seize the opportunity.
The government’s Plan for Change sets an ambitious vision for clean power by 2030. Now, working together, we have the tools to turn that vision into reality.
This is our moment to take back control of energy and build a better future – for the Liverpool City Region, for the North, and for the whole country.
We’re ready. Let’s get to work.