ExplainerEnergy Democracy - what is it and how can it drive just transitions?

In mPOWER we believe that energy services should be democratically run with the primary aim of serving those who use them. This might look different depending on the context, but examples are creating affordable tariffs based on income and need, eradicating energy poverty and ensuring systems are co-developed and co-designed by users.

These ideas are further explored within energy democracy principles. 

The key principles in Energy Democracy are:

  • Universal access and social justice
  • Renewable, sustainable and local energy
  • Public and social ownership
  • Fair pay and creation of green jobs

You can read more about this on the energy-democracy.net website.

Energy democracy understands that the energy transition can be used to catalyse greater democratic ownership of the utilities we need to live decent lives (in this case energy), and therefore run our energy systems and services in ways that best serve people and planet. There is an international movement towards energy democracy, and case studies can be found all over the world. It is not just local authorities that are working towards energy democracy, but entire countries such as Costa Rica and Nicouragua.

To learn more about energy democracy, you can start with this basic run down, and access further resources on our resources page.