At the height of the energy crisis, electricity costs at Eddie Andrew’s fourth-generation dairy farm on the outskirts of Sheffield rose by around £4,000 a month. But passing those costs on to customers facing bill hikes of their own wasn’t an option, nor was reducing production. His cows still needed milking, and the milk still needed pasteurising.
Our Cow Molly supplies dairy products to businesses across the Steel City – including the University of Sheffield. To keep costs down, Andrew turned off the mains electricity and powered the farm using the sort of diesel generator you might see at a fairground. Recalling the generator “rattling away” through the night, Andrew said: “It seemed like the maddest thing to be doing. How have we got to a position where we’re so out of control?”
Now Andrew is working with community benefit society Sheffield Energy Works to reduce the farm’s exposure to volatile energy markets, amidst ongoing conflicts in Iran and Ukraine, by generating more energy on-site. He also wants the local community to own the infrastructure that generates his farm’s energy.
“The idea is that we prove that a farm can be powered by its community,” explains Andrew. “I’m hoping we’re just the catalyst – what’s stopping any other factories in Sheffield copying us, and putting solar panels on their roofs?”
Sheffield Energy Works is attempting to raise £600,000 through community shares to install rooftop solar panels and an anaerobic digester. The farm already generates around 10% of its energy through freestanding solar panels.
The anaerobic digester would turn cow slurry into biogas, generating heat and electricity while capturing methane that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere. A byproduct of the process, digestate, can be used as fertiliser – reducing the farm’s reliance on manufactured, imported alternatives.
The project estimates annual carbon savings of more than 225,000kg CO2e, as well as saving the farm between £2 and £4 million over the 25-year agreement period. Investors are projected to be repaid within 20 years, with the assets handed over to the farm after 25 years.
While the technology is already used in British farming, the proposed ownership model is different. For as little as £5, individuals and businesses can become society members, gaining a vote in how future profits might be reinvested locally.
Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake, who attended the launch, said: “Community ownership gives people a real stake in the places where they live, with local residents becoming active participants in shaping their community's future."
Retired Sheffield resident Dr Ann-Marie Williamson has invested £2,000, having previously backed community solar project Energise Barnsley.
She said: “This time, I looked at my ‘rainy day fund’, the money I’d normally leave sitting in a savings account, and decided to put some of it to work locally instead.”
“Most people don’t realise that the money we keep in high-street banks often ends up helping to finance fossil-fuel expansion. Community energy is a way to do the opposite – to act on climate change directly, rather than waiting for government or big finance to catch up,” she added.
But environmental benefits won't persuade everyone, notes Project Director Jonathan Hind: “If you lead with net zero and decarbonisation, you’re either preaching to the converted or you’re talking to people who are a bit sick of hearing about the environment.”
Instead, Hind points to the money the farm currently spends on electricity that leaves the region – money that could remain in the local economy under the scheme.
Sheffield Energy Works is targeting a 4% annual return, comparable with some bank savings rates. Unlike protected savings accounts, however, community shares put investors' capital at risk.
For Project Developer Lizzie Stygal, the project is a natural evolution of a ‘shop local’ approach.
“For the cost of a tub of ice cream, you can help keep a local business running well into the future, while helping the environment at the same time,” she said.
But turning ‘shop local’ into ‘invest local’ is proving difficult. Sheffield Energy Works has raised £134,795 of its £600,000 target, with investments ranging from £5-£25,000.
Hind says the biggest barrier has been unfamiliarity: “A lot of people automatically assume it’s some sort of crowdfunder.”
“It’s not a donation, it’s an investment,” he added.
Reaching £235,000 by 20 October would fund groundworks and the solar installation.
Missing this milestone wouldn’t necessarily derail the project, with bridging finance options available. But farmer Andrew would rather local people reap the benefits than rely on corporate investment.
“When [local people] see the solar panels on the roof and can say, ‘One of them’s mine’ – that’s legacy in action,” he said.
Williamson, who regularly visits the farm for ice cream, looks forward to seeing “gleaming solar panels on the cow-shed roof”, adding: “I’ll feel proud knowing I played a small part in making that happen.”
The Government’s Local Power Plan, launched in February 2026, pledged up to £1bn for local and community-owned clean energy, aiming to support 1,000 projects by 2030.
Around 700 groups are operating an estimated 440MW of renewable capacity across Britain. By comparison, 40% of Germany’s installed renewable-generation capacity was citizen-owned in 2019.
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Karen Oliver-Spry, manager of the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub, which has supported the Sheffield project with funding, says the regional picture is changing: “When [we] were established just eight years ago, there were only nine community energy organisations in our region – today the Hub is working with over 150.”
But whether projects such as this one can translate enthusiasm for community energy into sufficient investment will be an early test of the Government’s ambition.
Our Cow Molly has already persuaded generations of Sheffielders to support a local farm by buying its milk and ice cream. Now its latest experiment asks them to go one step further: to help finance its switch to green energy, so that the lights can stay on for generations to come.
Header image: The recent launch event at Our Cow Molly - James Morris at Nimble Photography for Sheffield Energy Works
