Opinions sought across Mid Wales on energy and transport use

8 February 2024

Local area energy planning (LAEP) is taking place across the whole of Wales right now to understand everyone's energy and transport use now and for the future.

To aid the planning, a public engagement energy survey is now live and residents in Mid Wales have eight weeks to share their views.

The survey seeks to understand resident's opinions on:

• Current energy and transport use
• Low-carbon energy technologies
• Low-carbon heating systems
• Sustainable travel options

This survey has been commissioned by Ceredigion County Council on behalf of Growing Mid Wales which is a partnership between Ceredigion County Council and Powys County Council.

All the Local Area Energy Plans in Wales will be completed by March 2024, and these will then be used to inform the creation of a National Energy Plan for Wales, mapping out future energy demand and supply for all parts of the country.

In a joint statement, Ceredigion County Councillor Keith Henson, Cabinet Member for Highways and Environmental Services and Carbon Management, and Powys County Councillor Jackie Charlton, Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys said: "Local area energy planning identifies the change needed to the local energy system and sets out the detail needed to meet emission targets from now up until the net zero target by 2050. This survey is an important piece of that planning; the more residents that take part means that there's more data to better understand the opportunities and challenges that Mid Wales face to transition to net zero."

"Insights from the survey will highlight potential future actions for local councils, electricity and gas network providers, and other local parties, aiding us to move to more environmentally friendly sources of energy."

The LAEP work is led by Energy Systems Catapult who are working closely with Ceredigion and Powys County Councils.

Richard Leach, Senior Local Energy Transition Advisor at Energy Systems Catapult said "To get to Net Zero, we need to urgently act. To meet our Net Zero targets we need local action, carried out in a strategic, cost-effective way, backed by significant investment, and that is why we pioneered Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP). It is an integrated data led planning approach designed to help local areas plan and help deliver their future Net Zero energy system. LAEPs can coordinate, quantify and de-risk the investment needed but key to any good LAEP is local engagement and local buy in."

Take part in the survey via the following link: https://bit.ly/MidWalesLAEP  The survey closes on 31 March 2024.