We want to amplify the very timely call that stick out when reading the TANDEM project’s final policy brief: To make community energy more inclusive, fair and effective, national frameworks must better support cooperation between local authorities, citizens, and energy actors. The POWER UP team can’t agree more as our pilots have built inclusion in from the start of their work on local renewable energy production.
The policy brief, which covers all EU Member States, clearly states that without adapted legal, financial and procedural mechanisms, low-income households remain excluded from the benefits of renewables.
Complementarity with POWER UP
The TANDEM report echoes the work of POWER UP, which earlier this year released National Guidelines and Policy Recommendations to help cities replicate social energy models.
Together, the two projects show how Europe needs to embed social innovation in policy architecture with social innovation so that the idea of a “just energy transition” can become reality.
Lessons for policy action
Here are 5 of TANDEM’s policy recommendations addressing EU and national authorities:
- Local informational support, including regional or local one-stop-shops, and targeted guidance, could be provided to different local actors relevant to the development of energy communities;
- Dedicated policy incentives to support delivery of social inclusiveness objectives in energy communities, such as financial, technical, administrative and legal support, and collaborative partnerships with actors that already engage disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
- Local knowledge-sharing and promotional activities in less developed regions to inform the general public and local governments on the benefit of community-owned renewable projects, along with broader access to existing information tools.
- Promotion of co-ownership/co-development models between commercial RES developers and energy communities/citizens for larger projects. This can be supported via targets set at regional/local level, as well as the development of targeted incentives that promote co-ownership.
- A “Tech-Support Program” to boost the digital and technological capacity of less developed regions for energy community formation in combination with the development of step-by-step guides and trainings with expert facilitators to ensure the available tools and knowledge can be used by citizens and municipalities independently.
As both projects close, their results converge on a single message: the energy transition will only succeed if it works for everyone.
Read the full briefing to learn more
Contact us if you are a municipality who wants to get involved in this topic! Drop a mail to the coordination team, Miriam Eisermann or Eduardo Blanco.
👉 Join us at the POWER UP Final Advocacy Event on 27 November to continue the conversation on inclusive energy communities and energy poverty mitigation strategies that can have a lasting impact.
