Watt's in it for you? Unpacking the role of renewable energy cooperatives in the Netherlands in energizing consumer engagement

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between renewable energy cooperatives and consumer engagement in decentralized energy systems, focusing on how the structural components of the cooperatives shape members' attitudes and behaviors as both consumers and producers of renewable energy (“prosumers”). Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combines qualitative interviews with quantitative survey data from two Dutch renewable energy cooperatives, Blijstroom and Loenen Cooperative members. The findings highlight the critical roles of trust and awareness—two non-price-based socio-psychological mechanisms—in mediating the relationship between the cooperatives' structures and consumer engagement. While trust fosters interpersonal connections and a sense of ownership, awareness enhances members' understanding of renewable energy opportunities and challenges, with both mechanisms contributing to engagement in varying degrees depending on contextual differences between the cooperatives. Moreover, the results point out that renewable energy cooperatives, regardless of their structural characteristics, activate social norms, stimulate symbolic ownership, foster collective interests, and bridge cognitive gaps between energy generation and consumption. Together, these processes incentivize local stakeholders to actively engage with decentralized energy systems, demonstrating the multifaceted socializing roles of renewable energy cooperatives in fostering pro-environmental behaviors and accelerating the energy transition.