“From swords to solar, a German town takes control of its energy”

The German town Saerbeck’s citizens’ energy project ‘Climate Community’ shows that local, small-scale ownership could be the key to a successful energy transition, writes Audrea Lim for National Observer. With a large community described as PIMBYs (“Please, in my backyard”), “Saerbeck remains both a model example of a municipality that has taken ownership of its energy needs, and a grassroots “climate community” driven by investment and participation from local residents,” writes Lim. However, with upcoming regulatory changes like the switch to auctions for renewables, cooperatives will have difficulty competing against big investors with more readily available capital. Lim also writes of the risk that citizens’ energy projects remain in the hands of the “middle-aged, well-educated and comfortably well-off” population, excluding members of poor and marginalised backgrounds.

Read the article in English here.

Read a CLEW factsheet on Citizens’ participation in the Energiewende and the dossier on the People's Energiewende.