Team members

Chris Hayes

Chief Economist

Melanie Brusseler

US Programme Director

Mathew Lawrence

Director
06.05.2025

Missing Money in UK Energy Networks

UK energy networks are underspending by almost half a billion pounds every year compared to what they asked to invest.
27.04.2025

Nationalise Gas to Lower Bills: How a Public Strategic Reserve Can Lower Costs and Enhance Energy Security

As gas plants are phased out, they should be brought into public ownership.
20.01.2025

The Public is Enthusiastic for Community Energy

New YouGov polling shows widespread public support for the creation of community owned, renewable energy projects.
10.01.2025

Public Coordination of a Just North Sea Transition

The winding down of fossil fuel production in the North Sea is inevitable and necessary. We need public control over these assets to ensure a timely and just transition.
28.10.2024

A Successful GB Energy Must Bring Down Bills

Both MPs and the voting public largely believe that GB Energy needs to reduce bills. But MPs are more optimistic that it will.
11.10.2024

In Development: An Institutional Architecture for GB Energy and the National Wealth Fund

To deliver on the Government's goals, these new institutions need careful design, with GB Energy positioned clearly as a project developer.
05.08.2024

Over Half of Labour Voters Expect GB Energy to Cut their Bills This Parliament

New polling from YouGov finds that public want to see ambition in the delivery of GB Energy.
05.08.2024

Purchasing Power: A Public Option Retail Arm for Great British Energy

To deliver on the promise of lower energy bills, Great British Energy should include a retail arm that sells energy directly to people’s homes.
09.07.2024

Common Wealth's Vision for Great British Energy

To deliver on its ambitious promises, Great British Energy must take the form of a fully publicly-owned energy company that directly invests in and owns energy assets.
26.04.2024

Plug-in Public Power: The Case for Community Energy Democracy

Joint public ownership will accelerate a just transition and seal local support for stalled community renewables development.
01.03.2024

Bridge Over Troubled Water: Rethinking the Role of the State in New York Offshore Wind

Relying on higher strike prices to incentivise new offshore wind exposes the tension between depending on private investment and a just transition.
16.02.2024

64 Per Cent of Voters Want Renewable Energy Infrastructure to Be in Public Ownership, With Only 8 Percent Opposed

New polling from YouGov, commissioned by Common Wealth, finds substantial support for public ownership of renewables.
15.02.2024

The Case for Ambitious Public Ownership of Renewable Generation: Ten Common Questions and Common Wealth’s Answers

How public ownership of new renewable capacity can accelerate the energy transition.
12.02.2024

The Greatest Generation: How Public Power Can Deliver Net Zero Faster, Fairer and Cheaper

A new public green energy generating company should be the vehicle for the just transformation of the UK's electricity system.
08.10.2023

Grid is Good: The Case for Public Ownership of Transmission and Distribution

The public is already paying, and will inevitably pay, for the transformation of the grid to support a decarbonised electricity system. The question is how these costs are distributed and how investment is coordinated. Public ownership can address these urgent challenges.
06.01.2023

Chart of the Week: Energy Network Costs Paid by the Public Have Risen Sharply

The charges on energy bills for energy transmission and distribution have risen significantly since 2018.
10.02.2023

Chart of the Week: Centrica's Top Shareholders

After Centrica posted a record profit of £3.3 bn, we break down the company's top ten shareholders.
07.03.2023

A Wholesale Transformation: Evaluating Proposals for Electricity Market Reform

The wholesale market is not fit for purpose. We assess the alternatives.
16.01.2023

National Grid: Ownership and Key Financial Indicators

31.01.2023

Explainer: How Britain’s Energy System Works — and Why It Needs an Overhaul

26.09.2022

Power to the People: The Case for a Publicly Owned Generation Company

07.08.2019

Shifting Ownership for the Energy Transition in the Green New Deal: A Transatlantic Proposal

A UK-US coordination plan to bring big oil under public ownership and accelerate a transition away from fossil fuels.
14.03.2022

Profiting Amid the Energy Crisis: The Distribution Networks at the Heart of the UK's Gas and Electricity System

21.10.2021

Power Ahead: An Energy System Fit for the Future

25.11.2021

FFS? Fossil Fuels Support in the UK Tax System

Private Power, Public Crisis

On Britain’s energy contradictions.

Ofgem and Britain's Broken Social Metabolism

On rising bills and Britain's energy emergency.

Public Ownership, Public Control

On Great British Energy and the electricity market reform debate.

A Strategic Holding

On the National Wealth Fund and the need for public coordination.

Twinned Transition

On the green mixed economy.

Green Capital Strike!

On the failed CfD auction and the case for public power.

Transitioning Systems?

On coordinating the green transition.

Launch Essay: Common Wealth Perspectives

Introducing Common Wealth's new blog.
11.10.2024

Interview: Ewan Gibbs

Amelia Horgan spoke to Ewan Gibbs about memory, energy and deindustrialisation.