Devon County Council recently launched a report, prepared by CAG Consultants, highlighting the broad socio-economic benefits of community energy. The evidence from this report was highlighted in Community Energy England’s Community Energy Fortnight, and informed Devon County Council’s recent evidence on community energy to the Environment Audit Committee. The report adds to the growing evidence base about the social, environmental and economic benefits that community energy can achieve.
The evidence-based study concludes that investing in local, community-owned renewable energy generation projects can deliver better value for money for a local economy than purchasing similar energy from a traditional commercial provider. The report was completed by CAG Consultants and is based on Treasury Green Book compliant methodology to determine the socio-economic benefits.
The report may be of interest to other local authorities that have declared Climate Emergencies and are developing Net Zero Strategies. It was commissioned by Devon County Council and the South West Energy Partnership which is part of the European Local Energy Assistance programme. The report is available here