The demand for energy is increasing – how does this impact Scotland’s rural communities?

Dr Becky Ford explores the lived experience of Scotland’s rural communities in the energy transition, making a compelling case for community-led development as a key tool for achieving climate justice and sustainable futures.

Energy powers the infrastructure we need for daily survival and how we produce and access that energy is reflected in the systems of power that control our lives.

The entanglement of relationships between people and the places where they live are also shaped by systems of power – cultural, economic, political and technical – which bind the local to the global.  The regulatory and economic systems that impact energy generation and supply in Scotland are complex and often unable to respond to the specific needs of people and places.

We use the word community as a noun when it is in fact a living and dynamic process. When we talk about Scotland’s rural communities, we are generalising about the experience of particular groups of people living together in particular places, facing particular challenges and impacts. We need to be clear about how we are defining ‘community’ – who are we including and excluding, whose voices and experiences are being heard, who has access to power?  Community is not necessarily inclusive, or easy – at its best it is a pragmatic process which allows a group of individuals to work together for a common goal, across a diverse range of opinions and disagreement.

Rural and island communities are already experiencing the effects of climate change and market failure. They are often the location of significant renewable energy resources and experience the impact of large-scale developments without necessarily seeing any direct benefits. For example, Orkney has been producing all its electricity needs from renewable sources since 2013 yet has one of the highest rates of fuel poverty in Scotland. Orkney’s energy story has been dominated by a narrative of innovation and technological achievements, but what has allowed that to happen has been the ‘invisible work’ involving the social technology of community.

As I argued at the RSE Islands Future event in Orkney last year, community can be thought of as a decarbonisation technology, as illustrated by the role of the Islands Community Action Network (ICAN) in the ICNZ project. Where communities share a common sense of purpose and cultural narratives that value place and belonging, there is an understanding of interdependency and the need to work together for a collective good. This allows for care for people and place – not as assets or resources to exploit, but as intrinsically valuable ecosystems which can sustain life for all. It informs climate action that looks beyond net zero, focussing on creating sustainable, resilient futures, shaped by equity, fairness, inclusion, and care.

Community Energy Scotland’s work includes supporting community groups to develop energy projects with income generating assets. This gives communities their own source of income, and agency to organise, make long term plans and act, beyond the constraints of short-term external funding. Community led development allows for place-based solutions, utilising local knowledge and expertise, building local capacity and trusted relationships and creating employment opportunities.

Revenue to communities from 100% community-owned wind farms is thirty four times higher than community benefits from private wind farms. A report, produced for Point and Sandwick Development Trust in Lewis, compared the returns from community owned and private wind farms in Scotland. Returns from the community owned wind farms average £170,000 per installed MW per annum, in contrast to the community benefit payment industry standard of £5,000 per installed MW per annum.

In 2024 the Scottish Community Coalition on Energy (SCCE) published a paper A Fair Energy Deal for Scottish Communities calling for:

Increasing community ownership

• with the aim of achieving 1GW of 100% community owned energy by 2030

Improved standards for community benefit

• for onshore wind 4% of gross revenue should go to local community benefit fund(s) with a guaranteed floor of £7.5k/MW/year
• for offshore wind 1% of gross revenue should go to local community benefit fund(s) with a guaranteed floor of £2.5k/MW/year

Establishing a Scottish Community Wealth Fund

• It could be seeded with the £750m raised from the ScotWind auction, ensuring this wealth stays in Scotland and contributes to community wealth building (including more community-owned renewables and more shared ownership).
• In addition to payments to local community benefit funds detailed above, 1% of gross revenue from onshore wind developments, and 4% of gross revenue from offshore wind developments should go to a nationally coordinated Scottish community wealth fund.
• Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, created with their oil revenue, funds thriving communities. While recognising that the economics of oil and renewables are not the same, this demonstrates that how revenue from natural resources is managed can have a huge impact on who

The impact of increasing demand for energy affects all of Scotland’s communities and brings opportunities as well as challenges. It is time to act to ensure all communities can benefit from a just and fair transition to a low carbon energy future.

Dr Becky Ford, Community Energy Scotland/Institute for Northern Studies, UHI.

This article originally appeared in ReSourcE spring/summer 2025.

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