Community Energy Cumbria (CEC) was established in 2015 to increase the amount of community owned renewvale energy in Cumbria. Initiated by the local community, CEC was several years in development and came to fruition with the support of Cumbria Action for Sustainability, which provided a loan to finalise the feasibility studies and launch the original share issue.

There are around 80 shareholding members, the majority of whom reside in Cumbria. CEC operates two energy projects – a hydroelectric scheme at Killington Reservoir and a solar PV array on the Lake District National Park Authority’s headquarters in Kendal. Both schemes have around 30kWh peak capacity and in the first five years of operation the two schemes generated over 778MWh of clean energy.

CEC’s community benefit fund has supported several projects so far, including an energy audit for Manna House charity in Kendal; ongoing feasibility/exploration costs for a hydro scheme in Staveley and support towards open home events during the Cumbria Green Build Festival. CEC also supported the development of Burneside Community Energy, helping them to launch their first share issue.