Wales has a dragon of an idea. And it could change who owns our energy future.

We have to thank Jack Wilkinson-Dix for bumping this up in our feed.

It's a radical, game-changing proposal. It's Welsh. It's original. And it's got legs.

Our only ask is that whoever gets to name the proposed energy company puts a dragon in it. Something that speaks to the millions around the world who recognise Wales through its almost Tolkienesque reputation. Because this isn't just a Welsh energy project. It has the potential to become an internationally significant investment opportunity.

It's something that harnesses the choir and gives it a song.

Community. Radical power. Ownership. Independence from foreign influence.

It's hearty. It's ambitious. It's very, very Welsh.

And buried beneath the rather unremarkable title Formation of a consolidated Welsh public energy company is a proposal that could fundamentally change who owns, funds and profits from our energy transition.

This isn't a new idea. That's precisely why it's exciting.

Published on 7 September, the 49-page consultation proposes bringing together Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru, Ynni Cymru and elements of the Welsh Government Energy Service into a single publicly owned energy company.

Administrative housekeeping?

Not quite.

On page 30 sits perhaps the most interesting proposition in the entire document.

Wales wants to explore moving Ynni Cymru away from its reliance on capital grants towards an investment model.

Instead of simply awarding money to help communities, businesses and public bodies purchase renewable energy equipment, the proposed company could invest alongside them, sharing the resulting revenue.

Alternatively, it could own and manage the installations itself, replacing conventional energy bills with Energy-as-a-Service agreements.

Public money goes into an energy asset. The asset produces energy. The energy produces value. That value can help fund the next project.

Not another cheque written, another installation completed and another funding programme exhausted.

An investment that keeps working.

And here's the thing. This is already happening.

We've recently been exploring Renewable Energy-as-a-Service with Dan Proctor at Renewr, looking at how the commercial energy market is moving beyond the traditional model of selling individual installations.

The financial mechanisms are emerging. Commercial providers are developing the funding arrangements. The technology is available.

What's needed is a way of bringing the pieces together.

And this is where the Welsh proposal becomes considerably more interesting than another announcement about a government energy company.

It recognises the fundamental change in perspective required to deliver the energy transition at scale.

Not simply how do we persuade more people to buy renewable technology?

But how do we bring government, investment and communities together to develop, own and benefit from the infrastructure?

The triumvirate: government, finance and community.

Three parts of the same proposition.

Government can provide the institutional framework, coordinate delivery, develop projects and help overcome barriers that individual businesses and communities cannot resolve alone.

Finance can provide the capital, commercial structures and long-term investment necessary to build infrastructure without depending entirely on successive rounds of grants.

And communities can become participants in the energy transition, with a genuine stake in the assets being developed around them.

This isn't about government replacing private enterprise.

Nor is it about expecting communities to become sophisticated energy developers overnight.

It's about recognising that none of these three groups can deliver the transformation alone.

And the Welsh Government appears to understand that.

Its consultation explores public investment, shared ownership, Energy-as-a-Service, local energy markets and the possibility of assembling portfolios of projects capable of attracting capital.

It also proposes that large renewable developments exceeding 5MW could be expected to offer between 15% and 25% local ownership.

Not simply a community benefit payment.

Actual ownership.

That's a very different proposition from receiving an annual contribution from a developer whose infrastructure sits on your doorstep.

One is a payment. The other is an asset.

The proposed company could even act on behalf of communities that lack the capital, expertise or capacity to negotiate directly with commercial developers.

This is where public ownership starts looking less like a political slogan and more like a practical delivery mechanism.

And what about retrofit?

Here's where installers, manufacturers and commercial energy providers should start paying attention.

The company would support smart local energy systems combining solar PV, battery storage, heat pumps, EV charging and intelligent controls.

It could help businesses overcome grid constraints through local generation, storage and behind-the-meter solutions.

And it could provide the investment capability to develop these projects as integrated infrastructure rather than a succession of individual purchases.

Domestic retrofit itself would remain outside the company's direct remit, but Wales is explicitly exploring how neighbourhood-level retrofit could connect with local generation and shared energy infrastructure.

Quite right, too.

We've spent years discussing individual products when the real prize is getting buildings, generation, storage and demand working together.

A heat pump here. A battery there. A solar installation when the funding becomes available.

Sell the equipment. Install it. Invoice the customer. Move on.

But somebody has to coordinate the wider system. Somebody has to fund it. And somebody has to take responsibility for the assets after the installers have packed up and gone home.

That requires a different commercial relationship.

A Welsh experiment with international implications.

Perhaps the most provocative section of the consultation is its ambition to make Wales a national energy test bed.

The Welsh Government explicitly wants to experiment with local energy markets, flexibility and smart energy systems, proving approaches that could subsequently be deployed across Great Britain.

It also envisages the company working with Great British Energy, the UK Government and private investors to assemble portfolios of investable projects.

This is the potential catalyst.

Because if Wales can demonstrate how public institutions, private investment and community ownership can work together to deliver commercially viable energy infrastructure, it creates a model others can examine, adapt and potentially replicate.

Not just for Wales.

Not just for Britain.

For any country wrestling with the same questions about energy security, investment, affordability and who actually benefits from the transition.

Of course, this remains a consultation. There are enormous questions about capital, governance, procurement and commercial risk. Public ownership doesn't automatically guarantee cheaper electricity, and the company wouldn't directly set household energy prices.

But the ambition is unmistakable.

The Welsh Government isn't inventing a new financial instrument. It's recognising where the energy market is already heading and considering creating the institutional machinery to help it get there.

With public ownership and community benefit built into the proposition.

Government. Finance. Community.

Get those three singing from the same hymn sheet, and the Welsh choir could become a very powerful thing indeed.

And, rather wonderfully, it's proposing that the Welsh people should own a meaningful part of the answer.

Now, about that dragon.

The Welsh Government consultation, Formation of a consolidated Welsh public energy company, was published on 7 September 2026. Responses close on 30 November 2026.