Are Renewable Energy Cooperatives Promoting Energy Justice? Insights from a Typology of Energy Cooperatives Based on Different Dimensions of Social Justice

Academic interest in energy justice has risen dramatically over the last few years (Jenkins et al. 2016). However, very little attention has been given to exploring the different ways that energy cooperatives play a role in securing such a just transition. Filling this gap is even more pressing due to the upcoming EU directive on local energy communities. We present a typology of social justice issues as they relate to energy cooperatives. Our typology categorizes social justice aspects using three kinds of distinctions: What kind of social justice? We adopt Sovacool and Dworkin’s categorization of three types of energy-related social justice: (Sovacool and Dworkin 2015): - Justice as inclusiveness: equal opportunities, recognition of needs, etc. - Procedural justice: participation rights, decision rights, etc. - Distributive justice: just outcomes Social justice for whom? - For the cooperative with regard to the energy market: external perspective - For the participants with regard to the cooperative: internal perspective What social justice consists of on a personal level? The psycho-social instruments of social justice. - Intimate knowledge - Personal investment - Experiencing control Taking the lens of “What kind of social justice?” we see that ideals of distributive justice are a prime motivator for the formation of an energy cooperative, since most cooperatives aim for a (re-)distribution of ownership and profits of energy projects aimed at realizing collective benefits for the members (e.g. local renewable energy supply). Procedural justice can be another founding motivation for an energy cooperative, e.g. as a counterweight to structural power imbalances on the energy market. Equally, procedural justice is of key relevance for the internal decision-making in energy cooperatives. Social justice as inclusiveness plays a role when injustices like energy poverty are the prime motivator for the formation of an energy cooperative. The lens of “Social justice for whom?” cuts across these findings. As mentioned, procedural justice plays an important role in the internal agreements of a cooperative “Among ourselves”, but also in the way the cooperatives try to position themselves in the energy market as a competitive entity (“us versus the big corporations”), or as a wider impetus for social change. The lens of “What social justice consists of?” gives a more detailed analysis of the components of the different kinds of social justice in energy cooperatives and explains how exactly they are “embodied” and experienced in practice. Each type of justice involves intimate knowledge of participants, personal investment or the weighing of benefits versus costs for the case of distributive justice. The distinctions we have outlined show a multiplicity of ways in which social justice appears as a theme in energy cooperatives. They also provide a tool for analyzing energy cooperatives in terms of their contribution to social justice. References Jenkins, Kristen. Darren McCauley. Raphael Heffron. Hannes Stephan. Robert Rehner. 2016. “Energy Justice: A Conceptual Review.” Energy Research and Social Science 11 (January): 174–182. Sovacool, Benjamin K., and Michael H. Dworkin. 2015. “Energy Justice: Conceptual Insights and Practical Applications.” Applied Energy 142 (March): 435–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.01.002.