News & Articles on Community Power
Developing renewable energy on the scale needed to make the energy transition will require public acceptance. Unlike nuclear power, where society can force a single plant on a community for the benefit of society at large, renewable energy will have to become ubiquitous in our communities and on our landscapes. This can only be possible when the majority accept this transformation. Experience has taught that acceptance is greatest when neighbors and the community at large can participate in the renewable energy revolution. The beauty of renewable energy is that everyone can take part–and own a stake in their future–when given an opportunity to do so. The challenge is creating the policies that make this possible, whether it’s for a community wind project or a solar garden.
Share of German citizen renewable energy shrinking
By
Craig Morris
Unexpectedly, Trend Research have updated their controversial study from 2013. The share of citizen investments in renewables remains high but has clearly fallen.
Community to invest directly in wind power in Australia
By
Andrew Bray
While community ownership of roof-top solar has famously snowballed, public investment in larger solar farms, such as Canberra’s Solar Share, has been growing steadily as well. Lower upfront capital costs and relatively simple design requirements have put solar projects within reach of community based organisations for a number of years.
Community Wind in North Rhine-Westphalia
By
Fabian Tenk
Despite a record number of new installations in recent years, the German wind energy market is in crisis. Recent changes to the federal law (EEG 2017) have initiated a move from feed-in-tariffs to an auction system, while also limiting new capacity to 2.800 MW per year. The of special provisions for community entities, which are aimed at preserving diversity within the sector, put the further development of Community Power entities at risk, along with the very prospect of achieving Germany’s climate protection targets.
Energize the people to effect policy change
By
Craig Morris & Arne Jungjohann
Community power projects in Denmark and Germany have inspired politicians worldwide but have failed to translate to other countries. Sometimes the first step is to let people say no.
Solar power’s popularity is on the rise in Saskatchewan
By
Ashley Martin
In Regina, about 100 people packed the Artful Dodger for the Regina Solar Co-op’s first meeting in late October. The Regina co-op’s plan is to use group buying power to bring down solar panel installation costs before SaskPower’s net metering rebate program expires next fall.
‘We are the Energiewende’: German villages go 100% renewable
By
Pavol Szalai
Neuerkirch and Külz are two small villages in Western Germany – of 300 and 500 souls respectively. And yet, they feel a part of something bigger that goes even beyond the country’s energy transition, the ‘Energiewende’.
Rural N.S. town becoming a leader in Canada’s electric car movement
By
The small town of Tatamagouche, N.S., is driving the future forward with its push for electric vehicles. . . “The wind field and electric vehicles go well together. We have renewable energy driving all of the houses and businesses in this area,” says Stevenson.
Bürger-Windpark Lübke-Koog 25-Year Anniversary–A Review
By
Paul Gipe
Hans-Detlef Feddersen sent me a copy of a little picture book celebrating the 25th anniversary of Bürger-Windpark Lübke-Koog. He included a DVD video of interviews with the founders of the community-owned wind farm, the first of its kind in Germany and model for the thousands of projects to come.
No appeal on wind turbine after death threats
By
Margot Taylor
The ruling would push back community wind projects by “at least a decade”.
Störfall mit Charme—The Story of the Schönau Electricity Revolt–A Review
By
Paul Gipe
The title, Störfall mit Charme, is a playful thumbing of the nose in German at the critics of a movement by citizens in a small village in the deepest reaches of Germany’s Schwarzwald or Black Forest to dump nuclear power and build a renewable energy future.
