Talk: Power Shift - The Real Energy Question

Step inside an electrified night at Celtic Connections. A collision of presentations - some song and poetry, provocations and collective imagination, maybe even a ceilidh! - all powered by the urgency of Scotland’s energy future and our part in shaping it.

Across the country, communities watch turbines turn and pylons advance, wondering why the clean-energy gold rush feels like something happening to them rather than with them or for them. 

Why is it Scotland will have the highest output of renewables in Europe but potentially the highest bills?  Why do many of us feel powerless to question the state of our lives?

Yet there’s a spark, a sense that Spring is coming even in the depth of our political and planetary Winter. Musicians, storytellers, technologists, activists, futurists, neighbours will gather. 

We’ll shake off the cloak of winter and test new ideas the way bands test riffs—loud, collaborative, unafraid. We’ll imagine futures where local power isn’t a metaphor but a lived reality, where agency shifts back to the people, where wind and tides fuel not only our grids but our communities’ confidence.

Expect participation. Expect debate. Expect to surprise yourself.