Energy communities for degrowth: Democracy, reduction, maintenance and substitution

Abstract

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for degrowth research on energy communities, organizations which rely on the principles of voluntary membership, democratic control of renewable energy sources and relative autonomy from market forces. Prevailing sentiments suggest that energy communities' cooperative and democratic structure may offer a path towards goals set out by degrowth scholars, such as a reduction in energy throughput. However, no framework exists from which to assess if and how this occurs in practice. Therefore, we identify four dimensions that affect the degrowth potential of energy communities: democratization, reduction, maintenance and substitution. We develop each of these dimensions and propose that energy communities may drive a reduction in energy throughput if they (a) foster democratic decision-making, (b) explicitly seek to reduce their members' energy consumption, (c) maintain their democratic structure and physical infrastructure over the long term and (d) actively promote substituting existing fossil-based energy with renewable sources. Based on these dimensions, we identify six key avenues for research on energy communities and degrowth. We suggest that degrowth energy research should continue analysing the tensions and links between these dimensions.