Zero Carbon Rugeley

With Practical Governance, we explored the governance arrangements for a Smart Local Energy System co-ordinator and wider Just Transition eco-system as part of an InnovateUK funded project.

Together with PG Collective, we explored the governance design for a new Smart Local Energy System in Rugeley. The design was commissioned by the West Midlands Combined Authority as part of an InnovateUK funded project, and sat alongside the feasibility studies of Equans (the UK arm of the energy company Energie) in decarbonising the decommissioned coal power station.

The proposed model aimed to integrate the principles of a just transition by exploring the balance between greater community power and ownership, alongside the demands of large scale energy transition investments.

This work outlined an idea of ‘reciprocal governance’ – an ecosystem of organisations that foregrounded existing local energy organisations and environmental activism, whilst ensuring the professional and technical oversight needed to undertake large scale capital works.