BRITAIN has deliberately structured its plans to deliver change to the energy system around big business. The dependency on entities which have extraction at their heart have no regard for lowering energy bills, increasing energy security or combatting climate breakdown.

Central to Labour’s climate agenda has been the establishment of Great British Energy, a state-owned energy company tasked with driving the shift to renewables.

It has been hailed as a transformative step, with £8.3 billion set aside for the next parliamentary term. The funding has two key components: £3 billion for Labour’s Local Power Plan, a scheme allowing local governments to apply for funds to develop community energy projects, and £5 billion earmarked for co-investments.

These investments aim to entice private sector involvement by offsetting financial risks, making such projects more appealing to shareholders.

GB Energy’s reliance on collaboration with private capital raises serious doubts about whether it can genuinely deliver wholesale system change and deliver benefits for communities living in the shadow of the generating assets.

Recent developments further complicate the picture.

The partnership between GB Energy and the Crown Estate has done little to allay concerns around the extractive framework within which energy policy in Wales largely operates. In fact, matters look set to worsen.

The Crown Estate is a portfolio of marine and land assets, as well as rights and interests held by the reigning monarch. The Estate’s assets include the Welsh seabed out to 12 nautical miles, more than 50,000 acres of land, around 65 per cent of the Welsh foreshore and riverbed, and a number of ports and marinas.

Their financial statements for Wales go back to 2006/7. The first report that year indicated that the Crown Estate’s assets in Wales were valued at £21.1 million, generating net revenue of £2.5m.

However, the value of the assets has soared in recent years. In the financial year 2023/24, the Crown Estate announced a profit of £1.1 billion, an increase of £658m on the previous year.

A breakdown of the value of Welsh assets was recently revealed through a Freedom of Information Request which disclosed a combined value of £853,030,454 – £793,146,428 of which was generated by offshore wind and marine energy.

Given these figures and the number of projects both currently in development and projected to be operational in the years to come, it is entirely conceivable that the asset value of the Crown Estate’s holdings in Wales will exceed several billion pounds, reflecting hundreds of millions in annual revenue.

At present, this goes entirely to the UK government.

Despite GB Energy’s creation, questions remain about who will benefit from this wealth. Indeed, given the ownership of Welsh projects by other European state-owned companies, GB Energy’s “success” will, perversely, depend upon partnerships with these nations, further sidelining Welsh communities and assets from which a significant amount of wealth will be siphoned.

The rhetoric around community energy adds to the contradictions.

The chairman of Great British Energy recently stated at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference that new clean power projects must “show benefit” to local groups and “take communities with us” during the green energy transition.

Phrases like these have become increasingly hollow, because we know – and communities throughout the country know – that the financial benefits of this transition often bypass them. No amount of community-washing can obscure this reality.

Ownership matters. If we are truly committed to the concept of a “just transition,” community energy must be at its heart. Locally curated, financed, developed, managed, and owned solutions are not only more resilient but also far better equipped to adapt to future challenges, whatever they may be.

The founding statement for GB Energy gives it a role in funding the “Local Power Plan,” by providing funding and support to Local and Combined Authorities and Community Energy Groups. Yet, as with many of GB Energy’s promises, the lack of detail undermines its credibility.

The Great British Energy Bill currently making its way through the Houses of Westminster will soon be subject to the legislative consent process in the Senedd.

While the cabinet secretary for economy told the Senedd recently that the Bill simply goes about setting up Great British Energy as a publicly owned company, how that company will materially impact Wales is still completely unknown – though history gives us more than enough to go on.

For too long, communities have been overlooked in energy development, reduced to passive spectators in decisions that profoundly affect their futures.

Policymakers must embrace a humbler, more inclusive approach, one that actively listens to and prioritises the needs of the people most affected.

But achieving this will require more than headline-grabbing investments and lofty promises. It will demand systemic reform, a commitment to genuine local ownership, and an unwavering focus on the people who power the nation’s transition.