Energy self-defence against official policy: prosumer motives and tactics in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia

Abstract

This article analyses the obstacles and opportunities that prosumers from the V4 countries (the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary) perceive in relation to the further development of prosumer energy. Given the growing number of prosumers in these countries, we are particularly interested in the motivations behind their actions. Our hypothesis assumes that the rapid increase in the number of prosumers in recent years represents a form of grassroots energy self-defence, driven by rising energy prices and the unpredictable state energy policies—factors that were further exacerbated by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022. In this article, the term ‘energy self-defence’ refers to prosumer activity, but we use it more broadly to encompass all local grassroots initiatives organized by various social actors independently of state administrations and large private companies, aimed at ensuring energy security and energy access, and at achieving independence from political and economic pressures. Drawing on focus group interviews conducted in the four countries of the region, we analyse the challenging relationships between prosumers and distribution system operators, prosumers' attitudes towards state energy policies, and their capacity for collective action. One of the main conclusions of this research is that a lack of trust in official energy policy and the shock of rising energy prices may drive individuals to become prosumers. However, this is only the first step towards building an energy civic society capable of collective action—through energy cooperatives, energy communities, and political initiatives emerging from the prosumer movement.