Power to the people: local energy initiatives as seedbeds of innovation?

Abstract

Background: Two decades after the launch of Local Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro, we have witnessed the emergence and development of local initiatives in sustainable development. Local energy communities are a clear manifestation of this development. The questions the paper raises are as follows: can local energy initiatives be considered seedbeds of innovation? If so, how can such initiatives lead to innovations in the energy supply? Methods: We applied desk research and reviewed secondary literature.

Local Governments Supporting Local Energy Initiatives: Lessons from the Best Practices of Saerbeck (Germany) and Lochem (The Netherlands)

“…Furthermore, LEIs may emerge because of an aversion of citizens to closed and entrenched policymaking [48]. In a similar vein, Arentsen and Bellekom [7] report the resentment of local communities to the centralization of government authority or globalization in which large-scale industries control the production of goods and services in ways that the citizens consider neither transparent nor reliable. Other motivations found in the literature are religious [49], ecological [36], belief, and (maturing) technology [7].…”

“…In a similar vein, Arentsen and Bellekom [7] report the resentment of local communities to the centralization of government authority or globalization in which large-scale industries control the production of goods and services in ways that the citizens consider neither transparent nor reliable. Other motivations found in the literature are religious [49], ecological [36], belief, and (maturing) technology [7]. Various authors note economic incentives as a reason to participate in or initiate LEIs [7,10,12,50,51].…”

“…Other motivations found in the literature are religious [49], ecological [36], belief, and (maturing) technology [7]. Various authors note economic incentives as a reason to participate in or initiate LEIs [7,10,12,50,51]. Motivations related to ecology and self-sufficiency are also mentioned in various studies [10,36,43,51].…”

“…Furthermore, various authors note the relationship between citizen participation and the acceptance of a local renewable energy initiative [19,[38][39][40]. Arentsen and Bellekom [7] argue that local energy initiatives are "seedbeds" for innovation when understood from the Schumpeterian perspective on innovation. Local energy initiatives can be considered as "entrepreneurs" that come up with new combinations of knowledge and resources related to the electricity supply.…”

Experimenting with Law and Governance for Decentralized Electricity Systems: Adjusting Regulation to Reality?

“…Regarding the requirements for governance, the Experimentation Decree applies to projects operated by associations, meaning owners' associations and energy associations [36,37]. These associations must be entirely controlled by their members, which means that DSOs and energy suppliers are not allowed to exercise any control (Decree Article 7(1)j [20]), but members decide on the organisation, progress and distribution of costs of a project (Decree Article 7(1) [20]).…”