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Brendon Energy


Brendon Energy is as an Industrial and Provident Society (No. 31263R) for community benefit and its purpose is to develop renewable energy resources. It is a community business, which we would like to be owned by lots of people in our community.


We launched our first share offer on 9th July 2011. Everyone who invests and owns shares, regardless of how many, is a member and has an equal say in how Brendon Energy is run.


Our first project was to install solar panels on the south-facing roof of Wiveliscombe Children’s Centre. Users of the building benefit from free solar electricity and Brendon Energy receives an income from the Feed in Tariff, which will be used to pay a return to investors, fund more renewable energy projects and pay into a fund for community benefit.


Board of directors


Brendon Energy has an elected board of directors, who manage the community business, and who are appointed by members. The board can co-opt additional directors between Annual General Meetings. Our constitution requires that payments to directors are approved by members (clause 17.11).


Members’ meetings


Brendon Energy holds general meetings for members during the year and once a year there is an Annual General Meeting, which will normally be held in the autumn, where business will include:

  1. •Approval of minutes of last AGM and of general meetings held since then;

  2. •Directors’ report;

  3. •Approval of the accounts and auditor or examiners report;

  4. •Appointment of auditors;

  5. •Election of directors (at least one third of elected directors - the longest serving since last appointment - and co-opted directors stand down at the AGM but may be reappointed).


Our objects


Brendon Energy’s main object is to produce clean renewable energy from community-owned projects, with profits generated donated for projects or a fund that benefits the local community. Brendon Energy’s profits and property can only be used (clause 15.1) to promote our objects (clause 2), which are to:

- Develop and run renewable and low-carbon energy and energy efficiency projects within Wiveliscombe and its Environs;

- Advance education; and

  1. -Provide an opportunity for public-spirited people and organisations to contribute financially to the community, with the expectation of a social dividend, rather than personal financial reward.


The early days of Brendon Energy


In June 2009, at a meeting under the name of Wiveliscombe Transition Initiative, a number of local people, with longstanding concerns about environmental issues, got together to discuss the potential for a community group developing the renewable energy resources of the area. The thinking was: we have trees, wind, and sunshine and other resources, and we know these can be usefully harnessed to produce energy – shall we wait for someone else to do it for us, or shall we get on with it ourselves? A working group formed to take the concept forward, leading to the formation of the Brendon Energy Project (BEP).


We realised at an early stage that the key was to identify what resources, and what technologies, were most suitable for our area. So BEP applied for and obtained grant funding from Western Somerset Local Action for Rural Communities, and support from Taunton Deane Borough Council. With this money we commissioned a feasibility study into four technologies from local environmental consultants Aardvark EM Ltd.


Aardvark’s study looked at anaerobic digestion (the generation of electricity from food and farming waste), biomass (wood or energy crops), wind turbines and solar. Aardvark concluded that solar PV panels were the most suitable and cost-effective technology at the time. BEP immediately started to approach the owners of suitable roofs! We had discussions with local schools and village halls, proposing that, in return for them lending us their roof-space to install solar panels, they would enjoy free electricity while the panels were generating. That way, they would benefit from lower electricity bills, and Brendon Energy would receive the revenue from the Feed in Tariff, to allow us to buy more solar panels, or invest in other projects. We also contacted local solar installers for quotes.


It rapidly became clear to us that there was no shortage of suitable roofs, but rather shortage of money would be the problem. No money = no solar panels = no renewable energy generation.


We therefore decided to form Brendon Energy as an Industrial and Provident Society for the benefit of the community. Put simply, a not-for-profit body which everyone in the community can partly own. For as little as £10, you could buy shares in Brendon Energy and have a say in how it is run.


Brendon Energy Limited (no. 31263R) was formed in April 2011 and registered with the Financial Services Authority in May 2011. Its constitution is in the form of Rules registered and approved by the FSA - see: Brendon Energy Rules (PDF, 418 KB).


Brendon Energy’s aim is to develop local renewable energy resources which benefit the local community. Solar panels should just be a start point. In the future we will be investing in other technologies, and producing more and more renewable energy.