Northern PowerGrid's Community Energy Team launched in January 2025 and has since supported over 40 projects, according to a case study published by Community Energy England, an independent body. The team was named a finalist in the sector support category of Community Energy England's 2025 awards1.
The case study states that the team supports community groups with "hands-on guidance, practical training, and knowledge sharing", helping them build technical, financial and organisational skills, and fostering collaboration across local authorities, funders and technical experts1.
"Since its launch in January 2025, the Northern PowerGrid Community Energy Team has quickly become a valuable resource for the sector, supporting over 40 projects with hands-on guidance, practical training, and knowledge sharing"
Northern Powergrid distributes electricity across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire; its operating area and connections are set out in the site's guide to Northern Powergrid. Community energy sits alongside the wider question of how electricity reaches homes, covered in the national supply hub. Northern Ireland operates a separate market, described in Energy Supply in Northern Ireland; the Northern PowerGrid team does not cover it1.
The same set of case studies records figures from other community energy organisations. These are separate from the Northern PowerGrid team's work and are listed here as reported1:
| Organisation | Reported activity |
|---|---|
| Ethex | Helped groups raise more than £85 million across 95 projects |
| ECOE Advice | Reached nearly 50,000 households in 2024-25; 2,429 home visits; residents saved over £2.9 million |
| Selce | Helped nearly 5,000 households in 2024-25; retrofitted 93 homes |
| Plymouth Energy Community | Energy Advice Team supported 1,764 households; over £438,000 in grants distributed |
| CREW Energy | Helped nearly 4,000 households; residents saved over £536,000 and 449 tonnes of CO₂ |
| Big Solar Co-op | Partnership raised £1.8 million for a 3.5MW community-owned solar park on a former coal mining site |
Community Energy England also records that Giovanna Speciale of South East London Community Energy was presented with the Community energy champion award in Sheffield on 17 November1. The year of that ceremony is not stated in the text.
Why it matters for households
Community energy projects are typically owned or run locally, so the money they raise and the savings they generate stay in the area rather than flowing to a distant supplier. The figures above show the scale some groups reach: home visits, grants, insulation and solar installations, and advice on bills and debt. For a household, that can mean practical help with the fabric of a home and with the cost of running it, which is the part of energy independence a resident can influence directly.
The Northern PowerGrid team's role is different. It does not install anything or sell energy; it advises groups that do. Its stated work is building the skills of volunteers and organisations so projects get off the ground and last. Whether that translates into more installed capacity or lower bills for households in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire has not been reported.
What happens next
No next steps, targets or funding commitments for the Northern PowerGrid Community Energy Team are given in the case study. The outcome of the 2025 awards, beyond the winners and finalists named, has not been reported.
Sources1 cited
- Case Studies - Community Energy England, communityenergyengland.org