Pure Leapfrog, a business led charity, has begun to consider the effect of Brexit on community energy, specifically from a legal and financial perspective. Pure Leapfrog discusses possible alternatives including a UK-EU relationship and leaving the single market. Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the sector, Pure Leapfrog says it is committed to supporting community energy during this challenging period.
Pure Leapfrog says there could be some benefit from a reduction of EU legislation that affects community energy but community energy is inextricably linked to the performance of the UK economy, legal and political systems. Pure Leapfrog says community could change in the short term depending on the appeal of national energy infrastructure investments, and long term effects will be dependent on whether there is a change in priorities for energy and climate change policy under new Conservative leadership, what Scotland chooses to do, and how much EU regulation is retained as UK law.
Pure Leapfrog note that if the UK can form a relationship with the EU in the future then much will change from the current position community energy is in. However, they say if the UK fully removes itself from the EU single market there are risks that “new government could water down existing legislation” as well as “some potential benefits for community energy”.
Uncertainty is another topic Pure Leapfrog discuss, and it agrees that immediate prospects for community energy following the results of the EU referendum are difficult to predict and any projects which had EU funding sitting behind them are now in question.
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One thing it does know is that Pure Leapfrog will continue to support community energy for the foreseeable future and it “will do all we can to ensure the effects of Brexit are minimised for the sector”.
Read Pure Leapfrog’s blog post What does Brexit mean for Community Energy? in full here.
