Adam Price MS, Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy
In our manifesto we set out the case for a single Welsh Public Energy Company, owned by the people of Wales and working for the people of Wales. Today, I am launching a 12-week public consultation on proposals for the future development of Wales’s public energy functions, including the establishment of this company.
Our ambition is clear. Wales must build more of the clean energy it needs, own more of it, and benefit more directly from it. More clean power, more public consent and more Welsh ownership will mean more economic and social value retained in Wales, supporting a stronger and more prosperous Welsh economy. Wales has made good progress in planning for our clean energy future. We now need to deliver, with a clear focus on decentralisation, matching clean energy generation to Wales’s natural resources and supporting local use.
The consultation seeks views on how we can bring together existing public energy functions into a single Welsh Public Energy Company. The proposed company would help take our existing energy plans through to financed, Welsh-owned, operating projects. It will accelerate delivery, strengthen public sector capability, support community and local ownership, and retain a greater share of the value from the energy transition in Wales.
At a local scale, there are significant opportunities to support communities, co-operatives, local authorities and other public bodies to develop and own renewable energy projects, including onshore wind and solar. The consultation also seeks views on how smarter local energy systems can be accelerated across Wales. This includes exploring models such as homes and buildings acting as power stations, community batteries, local heat networks, mine-water heat, local tariffs, and other approaches that help match local generation with local demand. These approaches can help households, businesses and communities play a more active role in the energy system of the future.
For developments of national significance and scale, such as the major opportunities presented by offshore wind, Wales must be positioned to land clean power, capture value, support our industries and create good Welsh jobs.
This consultation is an important step in moving from ambition to delivery. It will help shape how Wales strengthens its public energy capability, increases Welsh ownership, supports communities, and ensures more of the benefits from the clean energy transition are retained here in Wales.
I encourage individuals, communities, public bodies, businesses and stakeholders across Wales to respond to the consultation and help shape the next stage of Wales’s clean energy future.
The consultation will close on 30 November 2026.
This statement is being issued during recess to keep Members informed. Should Members wish me to make a further statement or to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns I would be happy to do so.