An overwhelming majority of the public would support local renewable energy projects if they were owned and controlled by the community, according to new research from Co-operative Energy.

More than two-thirds (67 per cent) of the 2,000 UK adults polled said they would support local community-owned renewable energy projects such as wind turbines. This result includes not just Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Party supporters, but also those who identify with the Conservative Party.

Two-thirds (68 per cent) of respondents say that they are prepared to pay a small surcharge each year on their energy bill to fund an expansion of community energy, and 58 per cent believe that the Government should offer tax relief to those individuals who take the risk of investing in community energy.

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