"Power To & By the People": A documentary film on statistical evidence for the contribution of citizen-led initiatives to the energy transition in Europe

Often overlooked, citizen-led energy initiatives contribute to the low carbon energy transition in Europe. Under the name of energy communities, these groups have been specifically addressed in two separate EU directives (Directives EU-2018/2001 and EU-2019/944). Their projects have grown to produce, distribute, and consume energy from renewable sources while being governed democratically and benefits accruing locally. Despite this, data collection on the topic and statistical accounting of their impacts have not been undertaken systematically until now. This short documentary film quantifies the aggregate contributions of collective action in pursuit of the sustainable energy transition in Europe, estimating the number of initiatives (10,540), projects (22,830), people involved (2,010,600), installed renewable capacities (7.2-9.9 GW), and investments made (6.2-11.3 billion EUR) for 30 European countries.

The data presented in the video draws on our groundbreaking dataset which is the first systematic data collection to capture the nature and scope of collective citizen-led action in the energy transition for each country in Europe (https://doi.org/10.18710/2CPQHQ). The dataset consists of a broad range of variables to a high degree of granularity, covering both organizations and the individual projects that they manage, e.g., installation of renewable capacities, operation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, engagement in energy education and services provision, etc.

The documentary begins with background on energy services and cooperatives, highlighting 10 solutions by citizen action initiatives across Europe addressing various current issues of energy security, sustainability, and the affordable provision of energy services. While many of these initiatives are small in scope, they are of sufficient importance to policymakers as they actively involve people in the transformation. A "Facts & Figures" segment quantifies the aggregate contributions of citizen-led energy initiatives. These aggregate estimates do not suggest that collective action will replace government or commercial action in the short- or medium-term without fundamental alterations to policy and market structures, but the film presents strong evidence for the historical, emerging, and actual importance of citizen-led collective action to the European energy transition. Continued decentralization of energy systems and more stringent decarbonization policies will increase the importance of these actors in the future.