“If you want to start your own wind turbine, do it.” That’s the message from Jürgen Maier, Chair of Great British Energy, Labour’s new publicly owned, clean energy power company. In a recent Byline Network podcast, Maier laid out a surprisingly radical ambition: to democratise energy by helping communities generate their own.
Headquartered in Aberdeen, GB Energy was launched by the government and formalised by the Great British Energy Act 2025, receiving Royal Assent on 15 May. Its mission is to fast-track the UK’s transition to net zero. It will achieve this by supporting community energy schemes, investing in large-scale renewables like offshore wind and building up British supply chains.
That last point is key. Maier argues that the UK has been too reliant on importing everything, from turbines to talent. GB Energy wants to change that, as Maier explains: “We want to make sure we’re helping local companies get more involved with these energy schemes to create more local jobs.”
By investing in and helping deliver renewable energy projects, especially wind and solar, GB Energy aims to keep costs down for consumers. With the UK still struggling through a cost-of-living crisis, and trust in privatised utilities at rock bottom, the idea of public ownership is finally back in vogue. This means profits aren’t pocketed by private shareholders but are returned to the public, either through lower energy bills or reinvestment in more clean energy projects.
A public company with private-sector speed
The decision by the government to appoint a top-notch Chair – Maier is the former CEO of Siemens UK – was deliberate: GB Energy will not become a lumbering state bureaucracy. “Yes, it’s publicly owned,” Maier says, “but it’s run by an arm’s length body, with a very commercial board and a business-minded culture.” It’s been set up to be “agile and innovative, in a customer-focused way, and to move at a faster pace than a government department would.”
Maier understands that one of the key drivers of success is down to organisational culture – the shared values, beliefs and behaviours within a company. “I spent my first 10 years at Siemens being an un-outed gay man, feeling quite uncomfortable in this quite male, macho environment powered by big egos.” Once he was in a position to change things, he did. “A working environment where it’s inclusive and diverse isn’t just more fun and more friendly,” he explains, “you actually drive faster innovation and get better business outcomes.” And now he’s bringing that ethos to GB Energy.
A green jobs revolution?
One clear area of focus for GB Energy is skills. Maier acknowledges that a green energy transition will require “a lot more people” in the renewables industry. But he’s optimistic: the UK already employs 270,000 people in energy, including 100,000 in Scotland alone.
Crucially, many workers in declining industries – like oil, gas and steel – already have transferable skills. “Their experience maps fantastically onto building offshore wind farms, carbon capture or hydrogen storage schemes,” he says. Programmes like the “skills passport” aim to support retraining.
The broader vision is one of regional revival. GB Energy won’t just invest in infrastructure – the plan is to create jobs in coastal towns and post-industrial regions long ignored by Westminster and to tap into local supply chains. If done right, this could be one of the biggest industrial transformations since the North Sea oil boom.
The politics of net zero – and why UK electricity is still so expensive
Maier recognises the growing politicisation of net zero is a challenge. We regularly see politicians on the right, exploiting public frustration over energy bills to undermine the green transition. Maier explains: “Populists are turning it into a divisive issue and claiming it’s going to cost us a lot more. But by not continuing to invest in renewables, you’re just pushing the transition down the line.” The problem, he says, is they don’t explain why high prices happen, and there’s a danger that narrative starts to stick, and people turn against it.
The reason electricity remains expensive in the UK is two-fold. First, the UK has one of the highest proportions of gas in our electricity generation mix with 50 gas-fired power stations – our last coal-fired power station closed last year.
The other pricing factor is down to a quirk of how the electricity market was designed. Electricity prices are still set by the most expensive form of generation on the grid at any given moment – and that’s often gas. So even though wind and solar are now the cheapest forms of power, we don’t see that reflected in our bills.
This means that whenever gas prices spike – as they did following the Russian invasion of Ukraine – electricity prices rise too, even if much of that electricity is coming from cheaper, cleaner sources. “We’re going to have to keep going with oil and gas for a period of time in parallel and gradually get ourselves off it and onto more homegrown renewable energy, which is what great British energy is all about.
We are not likely to see a drop in prices just yet. “As we literally electrify everything, it takes a lot of investment and that investment needs to be paid for,” Maier explains. “In some countries, that cost is met by general taxation. In others, and the UK is one of those, we chose to put the cost directly onto energy bills, both for the consumer and for the industrial users.” So those with the heaviest usage pay the most.
The rise of people-powered energy
Maier recognises that “we do really need to take communities with us.” In rural areas across the country, there are hundreds of planning applications for new cables to transmit the new renewable energy from on and offshore wind farms, new solar farms and in the future, new tidal projects. That’s where community energy comes in, as a way to get ‘buy-in’. And it’s the grassroots angle that may prove most transformative.
“Let’s do it together,” says Maier. “Let’s do it as a community. You can even invest in our scheme if you want, and you can get a return on your investment. And we’d also like to give more attractive energy prices to people who are in those in those communities most affected by these projects.”
It’s already happening, and Maier wants to see much more of it. Across the UK, dozens of local initiatives have sprung up to generate their own clean power – often driven by frustration at rising bills and slow climate action. From solar co-ops in Oxfordshire, to a community-owned hydro scheme in Scotland, to the first rural heat network in Swaffham Prior, near Cambridge, these projects already exist. What they need now is scale.
GB Energy aims to be the catalyst. “We want to help more people do that,” Maier says. “You need engineers, planners, project managers – we can help communities access that expertise. We’d like to provide that service.”
It’s a far cry from the centralised energy system of the past. Instead, Maier imagines a future where residents can pitch an idea – say, a solar array on school rooftops – and GB Energy will help make it real. He urges campaigners to organise locally, approach their local authorities and watch for future GB Energy partnerships.
Of course, public scepticism remains. State-run ventures don’t always inspire confidence. But Maier insists GB Energy has learned the lessons of the past. By acting commercially and staying nimble, it hopes to win public trust, and deliver where private companies have failed.
A chance to do things differently
Maier’s enthusiasm is palpable. After a distinguished industrial career, this role clearly represents more than a job – it’s a mission. At Siemens UK, he was proudest of introducing technologies that made a difference, like smart manufacturing systems that reduced waste, and low-carbon digital infrastructure for transport and energy, and of building a company culture rooted in responsibility, innovation, and inclusion.
Now, he sees GB Energy as a national opportunity to replicate that success on a larger scale.
“This is our chance to change the system. To give people a say in their energy future. To create good jobs. To tackle climate change and inequality together. I really believe we can do this.”
He’s already promised to return in a year to tell Bylines Network readers how GB Energy is doing. If Maier’s track record is anything to go by, it’ll be a conversation worth having.
Listen to the full interview here:
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