Participatory Action Research project of the University of Sussex conducted in Bristol during 2015–2017. This research draws on participant observation data and in-depth interviews with a variety of local energy actors and community members active in the development of two solar PV farms in and around Lawrence Weston, Northwest Bristol. The findings emphasise the distributional justice impacts of creating new low-carbon energy infrastructures in deprived communities in a time of austerity, whilst also noting that ‘opening up’ local energy transitions to greater input from local communities’ offers opportunities to achieve procedural justice. Shifting relationships between local energy actors and Lawrence Weston highlight opportunities for the remediation of past claims of injustice, facilitating processes of restorative justice, whilst local energy schemes that seek to advance greater ‘active participant’ (skills training & employment) opportunities for deprived communities in which they, or their projects, are embedded, may be underpinned by recognition justice concerns. This ‘active participant’ approach is shown to be key to advancing beyond ‘passive recipient’ approaches to community energy transitions and enhancing spatial equity