There are many benefits to community and cooperative ownership of renewable energy. This briefing highlights four of the main benefits, and three examples of successful projects in Belgium, Scotland and England. It calls for a stronger definition for a ‘renewable energy community’ in the European Commission’s Clean Energy package, and encourages access to financial support schemes for renewable energy communities. It also emphasises the need to encourage low-income communities to participate in community energy projects, and guaranteed, fair and non-discriminatory access to energy markets and the electricity grid for community projects.