Recent amendments to regulations in South Africa allow for a more open and competitive electricity market. As part of stakeholder consultations on the initial Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP), many stakeholders, particularly in organised labour and civil society, have called for clarity on models and funding for community-owned renewable energy (CORE). Considering this, the Carbon Trust Africa, a trusted entity in the field, studied the feasibility and precedents for independent community-owned models for renewable energy generation. We examined implementation, governance, and funding models that could be used to implement CORE in South Africa and beyond.