With the Scottish Parliament elections approaching on Thursday 7 May, this is a powerful moment to urge candidates standing to be MSPs to champion our key priorities on community energy. It’s your chance to ask them directly how they plan to support these goals—and what concrete steps they will take to help deliver them if elected.
Our key demands are:
- Increase the Community and Renewable Energy funding package for community energy to £15m/year, rising each year.
- Use public land to boost community-owned energy.
- Amend planning legislation and guidance to prioritise the use of land for community-owned energy over privately-owned energy.
- Update the National Framework Agreement for the Supply of Electricity to allow local authorities and other public bodies to buy electricity direct from community energy groups.
- Support community organisations to develop and own local heat networks.
- Establish a Scottish Community Wealth Fund to equitably distribute a portion of the wealth being generated by Scotland’s natural renewable resources.
If candidates knock at your door, or you are at an election hustings, here are some questions you could ask them on community energy:
General Questions
- If you’re elected, what will you do to increase the opportunities for community-owned renewable energy projects?
- If you’re elected, what will you do to increase the opportunities for communities to own a share of commercial renewable energy projects?
- If you’re elected what will you do to make sure that the wealth from Scotland’s renewable energy is shared more fairly?
Policy-specific Questions
- If you’re elected, what will you do to prioritise the use of land for community-owned energy over privately-owned energy, and to ensure that onshore renewables and storage developments provide a fair deal for local people?
- If you’re elected, will you take up the issue of updating the National Framework Agreement for the Supply of Electricity to allow local authorities and other public bodies to buy electricity direct from community energy groups?
- If you’re elected, will you push for a Scottish Community Wealth Fund – in addition to local community benefit funds – to equitably distribute a portion of the wealth being generated by Scotland’s renewable energy resources?
- If you’re elected, will you push for all publicly owned buildings to be required to connect to a heat network where one exists and is viable, and for the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 to be amended to require new heat networks to be operated on a not-for-profit basis?
Take a note of the answers
If possible, note down who the candidate is and what they replied as, if they get elected, it may be useful to go back to them later and hold them to their word!
