As my first year in East Lammermuir fast approaches I have been reflecting on how the challenges and opportunities from the clean energy transition, being played out on the ground in this community, are at the sharp edge of a national debate.

Rural communities across Scotland are feeling a sense of disempowerment and overwhelm at the pace and scale of this transition and are organising themselves to call for a pause in renewables and the corresponding grid upgrades while a plan-led approach can be put in place. 

In East Lammermuir the community have opted to take a more nuanced approach, more strongly recognising the need for the transition and only calling for a pause in generation technologies, but not in the upgrade to the electricity grid, while a plan-led approach is established. Their alternative “South of Scotland Statement” makes the case for stronger support for community and shared ownership of renewables. Check out the results of the recent community survey about this here.

Why this difference here? Why, in a place which is currently experiencing the impacts of construction of transmission projects: enabling works for a new substation, the construction of a haul road, cabling and a converter station (read about these impacts in my last blog here), with the construction of new generation projects imminent?

Perhaps one reason is the growing sense of agency. No, this community doesn’t have any more say in the planning system than any other community, and yes, the clustering of infrastructure brings with it cumulative impacts. But this community has sought to work in partnership with developers, transmission owners and the Local Authority, towards the vision of East Lammermuir being left a better place as a result of the energy developments.

The success of a partnership requires a reasonable balance of power. That is why my mission, as Energy Projects Partnership Manager, is to nurture and grow community agency, exploring new ways to achieve this and reinforcing those that exist, such as the registered Local Place Plan.

As relationships between the partners grow, I am increasingly convinced that this is a shared mission. It is not without its challenges – we are pushing at the boundaries of business as usual. But in doing so we are exploring the “art of the possible”. At its heart, this partnership is about the community being empowered through the energy transition.