Community energy: Entanglements of community, state, and private sector. Issue 7 (28th June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Creamer, Emily; Eadson, Will; van Veelen, Bregje; Pinker, Annabel; Tingey, Margaret; Braunholtz‐Speight, Tim; Markantoni, Marianna; Foden, Mike; Lacey‐Barnacle, Max
• Is Part Of: Geography compass. Volume 12:Issue 7(2018)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2018-06-28
• Subjects: Geography -- Periodicals; Geography -- Research -- Periodicals; 910.5
• DOI: 10.1111/gec3.12378
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1749-8198

Abstract

Abstract: The decarbonisation of energy systems is leading to a reconfiguration of the geographies of energy. One example is the emergence of community energy, which has become a popular object of study for geographers. Although widely acknowledged to be a contested, capacious, and flexible term, "community energy" is commonly presented as singular, bounded, and localised. In this paper, we challenge this conception of community energy by considering evidence about the role and influence of three categories of actors: community, state, and private sector. We demonstrate how community energy projects are unavoidably entangled with a diversity of actors and institutions operating at and across multiple scales. We therefore argue that community energy is enabled and constituted by trans‐scalar assemblages of overlapping actors, which demands multi‐sectoral participation and coordination. We point to the need for further academic attention on the boundaries between these actors to better understand the role of different intermediary practices and relationships in facilitating the development of decentralised energy systems with just outcomes.