14 July 2026

Durham Community Action

Community energy event: Building a shared sustainable future in County Durham

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DCA’s Community Energy in County Durham Event sparks new connections in the region and beyond

Overview

On 7th July 2026, as part of Community Energy Fortnight, Durham Community Action brought together community spaces and energy organisations from across the North East for a day of inspiring presentations and discussions at Jubilee Fields Community Association in Shildon village. This event was funded by the National Lottery Climate Action Fund, through the CAIRN project. 

Introduction

Opening the event, Kate Burrows, CEO of Durham Community Action (DCA), reflected on their organisation’s longstanding commitment to community energy and engagement. From her very first day at DCA, Kate was involved in bringing the perspectives of community spaces. This started with the Renovation for Energy Efficient Buildings (REBUS) project ten years ago. Today DCA continues to bring people together to support the future-proofing of community spaces and homes, including through the CAIRN project and the Community Spaces Partnership.  

Kate concluded by highlighting the aim of the day: to identify practical actions and explore how partners can work better together to enable more rural community energy projects to develop. Then Kate handed over to Lindsay Henderson, DCA, who chaired the day’s inspiring and informative sessions.  

Community energy initiatives

First, participants heard from Susan Manson, from the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub. Susan explained the history of the hub, and shared a wealth of information about funding programmes, capacity building initiatives, and resources.  

Susan shared lots of examples of community energy initiatives out there, such as NCEL and DEAL, as well as Circular Malton whose team incorporated an anaerobic digester into their portfolio of sustainability initiatives. Another example is the Settle Energy Local club which brings together those with solar panels already and those who aren’t currently generating. 

Susan emphasised that community energy is vital for resilience, security, reducing energy bills and fuel poverty, local and circular economies, jobs, skills, innovation, decarbonising, and building in flexibility for the national grid. It can take multiple forms, including energy saving initiatives, managing energy, and generating energy. Key to defining something as a community energy project is it having community benefit and community ownership. 

In the room were a number of stalls where attendees could meet representatives from North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub, Reheat, Sustainable Energy Engineering, and DEAL.

Presentations

After a short discussion session, Isla Ballard and Craig Hampton presented their activities through the CAIRN project. This included community engagement, home energy audits, inspiring young people, co-creating resources, and linking in with other organisations across Durham to build the infrastructure to enable community energy projects to happen. Find out more about CAIRN here. 

Hilary Anderson, from Rural Design Centre, presented next. Hilary introduced DEAL, from the extensive research with community groups through to setting up as a community benefit society. This process is set out in detail here and here. Hilary also discussed future opportunities, such as around community-owned electric vehicles charging.  

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Challenges & Opportunities

In between sessions, participants had lots of opportunities for regular discussion. These conversations covered challenges and opportunities for those trying to develop community energy initiatives, including: 

A need for clear, accessible information  

A project often succeeds because one passionate person drives it forward, but they often need access to support, knowledge and resources from external organisations and other community spaces. A specific barrier is translating techy language and a need for support organisations to help explain the basics. 

Participants felt that sessions like this were vital to make links to organisations like DCA and the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub, who can guide, signpost, and support communities, so that people know where to start. 

Specific barriers to navigate within project teams

  • Potential challenges were raised around upcoming changes to VAT on equipment for renewable energy, making projects ‘bigger’ in terms of cost and for many, less economically viable. Funding for feasibility studies is available. 
  • There have been barriers to installing Smart Meters in some community spaces, leading to new standard meters being installed instead. 
  • Participants also flagged that a lack of clarity on ownership, leases, planning permission requirements and documentation about historic and more recent works in community spaces, can cause delays with new installations. Wraparound support is available for this. 

Collaboration and partnership opportunities

Many community energy projects need to aggregate and join forces with others, in order to be able to access capital funding and explore selling energy back to the grid. This collaborative approach to applying to large funding programmes has been a successful part of the NCEL scheme. Awareness-raising and word-of-mouth referrals forming a key part of bringing new communities into the programme.  

Getting in touch with a local ACRE member organisation (Durham Community Action and Community Action Northumberland are both members) is a helpful place to start, or your nearest Net Zero Hub. 

Making an informed decision about community energy 

Participants fed back that community engagement is essential to enable local people to feed back on any energy project and help shape it. External support for this work is invaluable and must continue to be properly resourced. 

Some participants also reported vast differences in the amount of information provided by energy suppliers via their apps, meaning that community spaces might not be able to access the usage information they need to make informed choices about community energy.  

Engagement between community energy project teams and energy providers would be beneficial to help deepen understandings and resolve common challenges. 

Final sessions

After lunch Susan Ross, Deputy Director of Edge Innovation, presented a recent research project about developing support for community-led renewable energy projects in the North East. The project, which engaged with community energy projects and support organisations across the UK, co-designed a possible support structure for new schemes.

Key findings were:

  • That communities want greater support at the development, finance, construction and operational stages, but without losing local ownership.
  • A blended support model combining technical expertise, delivery support and long-term operational assistance is preferred.
  • The recommended approach is to build capacity within existing trusted community infrastructure organisations, supported by specialist technical expertise.

Next steps will be to work with partners to develop a business plan and secure initial funding to enable mobilisation of the support structure.

The final session of the day was a panel discussion featuring Ali Turner from Horden Heat, Aaron Ruddick from Durham County Council, Andrea Baxter from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, and Michelle Newman from Northern Powergrid. The panel explored the future of community energy and the opportunities and challenges facing the sector. 

Panellists reflected on the barriers that community energy projects can face when trying to get off the ground. Many initiatives can find themselves at a ‘brick wall’ when navigating complex regulations, funding requirements and existing systems. The discussion also highlighted the need for a wider shift in attitudes towards energy, sustainability and community-led action, with speakers agreeing that meaningful progress requires not only investment and practical support, but also greater understanding and engagement from organisations, communities and decision-makers. 

Despite these challenges, the discussion was overwhelmingly positive and forward-looking. Panellists spoke about the passion, commitment and creativity that exist within communities across the region, and the important role that grant funding and partnership working can play in turning ideas into reality. Examples were shared of how community energy projects can contribute to net zero goals while also delivering wider benefits, including creating new skills and employment opportunities, strengthening local resilience, reducing energy costs and keeping benefits within local economies. 

The panel also emphasised the value of collaboration between community groups, local authorities, energy providers and support organisations. By sharing knowledge, developing partnerships and learning from successful projects, communities can be better equipped to overcome barriers and build sustainable initiatives that meet local needs. 

Collaboration and partnership opportunities

The session concluded with a shared sense of optimism about the future of community energy in the North East. Panellists agreed that by creating more opportunities for innovation, collaboration and community ownership, community energy can be a powerful force for positive change, helping communities play an active role in shaping a more sustainable and resilient future. 

Across all the presentations and discussion sessions, there was one key message: that community energy has to be ‘from communities, for communities’. Rural communities know best about what they need, and local support facilitates bespoke solutions to develop from the ground up.  

Echoing what Susan Manson said: don’t reinvent the wheel, support is available! Research, talk to others, partner up, collaborate - and talk to funders to find funding suitable for any stage of a project. 

Sharing information ensures that communities, with their expertise and experience, are linked up with the advice, funding and support to shape a community energy project that is right for them. It was clear that this is already working well through the CAIRN project.  

On their relationship with Durham Community Action, one participant said it was vital “knowing that somebody is going to hold your hand through the maze”. 

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