FIELD NOTES / 01 · ENERGY & PLACE

Does local energy
mean cheaper energy?

I live in Scotland. I wanted to understand how the places producing renewable electricity relate to what people pay. Start with the evidence, then ask a better question.

Generation: 2020–2025 · Price cap: Oct–Dec 2026 · Pinned sources, not live data

MeasureYearTechnology

BackgroundMinimal uses local map geometry. Streets loads OpenFreeMap roads and place labels.

Renewable generation

Capacity concentration Scroll to zoom · Esc releases

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Region colour shows a published total, not uniform output across the area. Zoom in for July 2026 operational project records. Their capacity is not annual generation. Tariff boundaries are approximate and differ from generation regions.

Regional comparison

View exact values and source references

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

Where does the energy come from?

Regional fingerprints

First regionCompare withDisplay

What this comparison can tell us

These are separate views of renewable generation and household price-cap rates. Different boundaries and periods prevent a direct spatial correlation. A nearby generator does not establish what a household pays.

Ofgem links regional standing charges to population, energy use, energy purchases and network costs. These data do not isolate the effect of each factor. Grid constraints, storage and flexible demand are useful next questions, but require additional evidence.

Offshore wind is allocated to where its cable comes ashore. Capacity is measured at year end; annual generation divided by that capacity is not an official load factor.

ANALYSIS GUIDE · AI

Ask the evidence.

The guide can calculate rankings, year-on-year changes, regional mixes, historical trends and bill scenarios from the same source data you see here.

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Questions go to Jonathan’s AI service. Avoid sensitive information. The guide can be wrong; inspect the data and methods. No arbitrary web access or code execution.

REPRODUCIBLE, WITH LIMITS

Sources & method

Generation is annual renewable electricity, not total generation or local demand. Published values can include estimates. Mapped sums exclude Northern Ireland and unallocated “Other Sites”. Missing data remains missing, never zero. All bill calculations hold one quarter’s rates constant for 365 days, include the published taxes and use a single-rate Direct Debit basis. They are illustrations, not forecasts or tariff recommendations.

Map geometry: Natural Earth, public domain. MapLibre GL JS 6.13.0, BSD-3-Clause. Minimal uses local geometry. Streets loads tiles, labels and styles from OpenFreeMap, with OpenStreetMap data and attribution displayed on the map. Download the source snapshot ↗