The profits from the wind farms rising on Welsh hills could stay in Wales rather than flowing to outside investors, under plans for a national energy company owned by the people of Wales.
The promise from ministers is cheaper, cleaner power with the money reinvested at home. The reality check comes with it: the company would not take over your gas and electricity supply, would not set the price you pay, and any saving on bills is a long-term hope rather than help for this winter.
What is on the table is one national public energy company, bringing together the energy organisations Wales already has, and everyone in Wales is being asked how it should work before the plans are settled.
27 turbines in Brechfa, pylons down the Towy Valley
The question of who profits from Welsh energy is anything but abstract here. Welsh Government-owned Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru is already planning the 27-turbine Glyn Cothi wind farm in Brechfa Forest, which it says would power 144,000 households, while Galileo’s 25-turbine Bryn Cadwgan scheme straddles the Carmarthenshire border with Ceredigion and Bute Energy wants 13 more at Nant Ceiment, south of Lampeter.
Carrying all that power away means pylons. Two Green GEN Cymru routes would cross the Towy Valley to reach the National Grid, through what campaigners say is farmland, villages and historic ground including the Roman fort at Pumsaint and the Dolaucothi gold mines. The company says it is investing nearly £1bn, will reduce visual impact where it can, and that burying the lines fully is not economically viable.
It was at Pumsaint last September that the anger boiled over, with campaigners at a packed public meeting warning of countryside being sacrificed “so that foreign companies can profit” and branding the county a “Net Zero sacrifice zone”. The new company is, in effect, the government’s answer to that charge.
A solar row in Bynea, solar money in Gowerton
Solar has split communities just as sharply. Near Llanelli, campaigners with a 2,000-name petition are fighting the 120-acre Pencoed Ganol scheme off Pendderi Road, around 75,000 panels for 40 years, which they say would force the closure of the Brynteg Farm wellbeing sanctuary for children with additional learning needs. The developer says the project would provide local renewable energy and support biodiversity.
Across the Loughor estuary sits the other side of the ledger. The solar farm Gowerton villagers fought for years is now being built, and this autumn the first community money arrives: a £116,000 fund for local causes, with a panel of local people deciding where it goes. How much of the value of Welsh energy stays where it lands is precisely what the consultation asks.
The £64m prize and the grid problem
The prize, if the ownership question is got right, is considerable. A £64m floating wind hub planned for Port Talbot could create up to 5,000 jobs, the region’s ports sit at the centre of a multi-billion-pound offshore wind push, and Swansea’s tidal lagoon dream took its first concrete step in March when a deal was signed to turn the former Tir John landfill into a solar farm, the opening phase of the wider port and Fabian Way vision.
But generating the power is only half the battle. The grid cannot yet carry everything the region could produce: even Port Talbot’s £1.25bn electric arc furnace has been left waiting for its electricity connection, a delay that could push green steelmaking back to 2028.
Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Adam Price said Wales had “huge potential to generate clean energy from our natural resources”.
“We want to make sure the benefits of that energy are felt by people and communities across Wales, both in jobs and growth but eventually in lower bills too,” he said.
“This consultation is about how we can build a stronger Welsh energy sector, support local ownership and create lasting value for future generations. It’s about cheaper, cleaner energy that is made and owned in Wales.
“We want to hear from people, communities, businesses and organisations across Wales about how this company should work and what it should deliver.”
The government says the company would aim to increase Welsh ownership of energy projects and help communities, businesses and public services make better use of energy produced in Wales, which it says includes some of the best renewable resources in Europe.
Whoever ends up owning the turbines, one cause of high bills sits closer to home: Wales has some of the leakiest housing stock in Britain, losing warmth and money regardless of how much clean power is generated nearby.
For anyone struggling now rather than in some greener future, the Welsh Government points to the help already running: more than £37m going into its Nest scheme this year to lift low-income families out of cold, damp homes, plus fuel vouchers and heating assistance.
The free Claim What’s Yours service on 0800 702 2020 checks what you are entitled to and helps you claim it, while the Nest advice line on 0808 808 2244 offers energy-saving tips and checks whether you qualify for free efficiency measures.
The consultation runs until 30 November, online at gov.wales.
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