The Scottish Government may not grasp the vital importance of enabling communities to have a meaningful voice or benefit relating to net zero energy developments in their locality.
Municipal-scale, democratic control of energy provision is, in our view, the most effective and equitable means of delivering maximum advantages to low-income and marginalised areas. Regrettably, Scotland presently lacks the municipal infrastructure required to facilitate this level of local democracy, and for this reason, Common Weal will continue to advocate strongly for greater democratic empowerment at the local level across Scotland. Furthermore, we firmly reject any suggestion that Scotland lacks the capacity to assume greater control over its own energy generation and storage. On the contrary, there are several viable pathways that would support the implementation of public ownership within Scotland’s energy sector.