Co-operatives seen as a means to increase energy consumer participation

The European Commission (EC) has released new proposals on energy self-consumption and consumers. Published as part of its Summer Package, the three documents are: A new deal for energy consumers, a...

The European Commission (EC) has released new proposals on energy self-consumption and consumers. Published as part of its Summer Package, the three documents are: A new deal for energy consumers, a Best Practices guidance document on how to produce your own renewable electricity and a text launching the Public consultation on energy market design.

The proposals have been welcomed by Cooperatives Europe and the European Federation of renewable energy cooperatives, REScoop.eu, which argue that consumers, including citizens, their co-operatives and other small and medium enterprises, need to play a more important role in delivering a fully functioning energy market to meet the 2030 EU climate and energy targets.

In the documents the EC highlights some of the obstacles faced by consumers, households and businesses that prevent them from benefitting from the ongoing energy transition. Among these are the lack of appropriate information on costs and consumption, insufficient competition on many retail markets and a lack of reward for active participation as well as difficulties in switching. Following a public consultation in the first half of 2014, the EC has identified three key points as core to delivering a new deal for consumers: consumer empowerment; smart homes and networks; and data management and protection. To give consumers a wide choice of action the EC proposes a number of measures, including increasing consumer participation through intermediation and collective endeavours, such as co-operative schemes.

Dirk Vansintjan, president of REScoop.eu, says: “In this guidance document on self-consumption of renewable energy we read some good things. At the same time, self-consumption is not just about putting some PV [photovoltaic] panels on the roof of a citizen. It is above all about what citizens all across Europe do together in a growing number of community energy initiatives [REScoops]. That aspect still needs to be developed more by the EU Commission.”

Klaus Niederländer, director of Cooperatives Europe, a regional organisation of the International Co-operative Alliance, added: “In the Consultation on the Electricity Market Design we will suggest to the EU Commission to broaden their view on what citizens and their REScoops can do already and their future growth potential to democratise the energy market, which belongs to all citizens. Among our national members we count more than 1,000 REScoops, of which the majority has been supplying their members with electricity for almost or more than a century already. We will demonstrate to the EU Commission that the cooperative entrepreneurial approach is most suited for citizens and SME’s in the energy sector.”

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