IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/engenv/v20y2009i3p303-317.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public Engagement with Community-Based Energy Service Provision: An Exploratory Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Patrick Devine-Wright
  • Hannah Devine-Wright

Abstract

While the adoption of an energy services approach is regarded as an important aspect of a low carbon economy, potentially involving greater consumer participation in delivering energy services, relatively few energy service providers (e.g. Energy Service Companies: ESCOs) exist in the UK, and little research has been conducted upon the kinds of beliefs associated with such organisations by members of the public, including ESCO customers. This research begins to address this research gap by means of a case study of a refurbished, mixed-use development in Linthwaite, Yorkshire: Titanic Mill. The project is notable for claims of carbon neutrality and lower fuel bills, the installation of low carbon technologies and intention to create a resident-owned ESCO (Mill Energy Services). Case study methods included content analysis of materials promulgated by the developers and a group discussion with residents. These suggest that Titanic Mill is characterised by passive rather than active roles for residents in delivering energy services, at both individual and collective levels. Some residents already express disappointment with actual bills, despite developers' claims. It is concluded that co-provision is unlikely to be achieved unless all actors (developers, energy consultants and residents) recast how energy services are conceived and communicated, both visually and verbally. Residents' enthusiasm for rethinking demand feedback, as well as some individuals' willingness to participate in the ESCO, suggest a platform upon which a transformation towards collective co-provision of energy services could occur, in the uncertain and dynamic contexts of a gradually emerging sense of community, and fluctuating energy markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick Devine-Wright & Hannah Devine-Wright, 2009. "Public Engagement with Community-Based Energy Service Provision: An Exploratory Case Study," Energy & Environment, , vol. 20(3), pages 303-317, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:engenv:v:20:y:2009:i:3:p:303-317
    DOI: 10.1260/095830509788066402
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1260/095830509788066402
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1260/095830509788066402?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Walker, Gordon & Devine-Wright, Patrick, 2008. "Community renewable energy: What should it mean," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 497-500, February.
    2. Hain, J. J. & Ault, G. W. & Galloway, S. J & Cruden, A. & McDonald, J. R., 2005. "Additional renewable energy growth through small-scale community orientated energy policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1199-1212, June.
    3. Gordon Walker & Sue Hunter & Patrick Devine-Wright & Bob Evans & Helen Fay, 2007. "Harnessing Community Energies: Explaining and Evaluating Community-Based Localism in Renewable Energy Policy in the UK," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 7(2), pages 64-82, May.
    4. Bertoldi, Paolo & Rezessy, Silvia & Vine, Edward, 2006. "Energy service companies in European countries: Current status and a strategy to foster their development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1818-1832, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rogers, J.C. & Simmons, E.A. & Convery, I. & Weatherall, A., 2008. "Public perceptions of opportunities for community-based renewable energy projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4217-4226, November.
    2. Berka, Anna L. & Creamer, Emily, 2018. "Taking stock of the local impacts of community owned renewable energy: A review and research agenda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3400-3419.
    3. Brummer, Vasco, 2018. "Community energy – benefits and barriers: A comparative literature review of Community Energy in the UK, Germany and the USA, the benefits it provides for society and the barriers it faces," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 187-196.
    4. Walker, Gordon, 2008. "What are the barriers and incentives for community-owned means of energy production and use?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4401-4405, December.
    5. Seyfang, Gill & Park, Jung Jin & Smith, Adrian, 2013. "A thousand flowers blooming? An examination of community energy in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 977-989.
    6. Berka, Anna L. & Harnmeijer, Jelte & Roberts, Deborah & Phimister, Euan & Msika, Joshua, 2017. "A comparative analysis of the costs of onshore wind energy: Is there a case for community-specific policy support?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 394-403.
    7. Dalia Streimikiene & Tomas Baležentis & Artiom Volkov & Mangirdas Morkūnas & Agnė Žičkienė & Justas Streimikis, 2021. "Barriers and Drivers of Renewable Energy Penetration in Rural Areas," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-28, October.
    8. Stefano Moroni & Valentina Antoniucci & Adriano Bisello, 2019. "Local Energy Communities and Distributed Generation: Contrasting Perspectives, and Inevitable Policy Trade-Offs, beyond the Apparent Global Consensus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, June.
    9. Rae, Callum & Bradley, Fiona, 2012. "Energy autonomy in sustainable communities—A review of key issues," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(9), pages 6497-6506.
    10. Klein, Sharon J.W. & Coffey, Stephanie, 2016. "Building a sustainable energy future, one community at a time," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 867-880.
    11. Jenny Palm, 2021. "The Transposition of Energy Communities into Swedish Regulations: Overview and Critique of Emerging Regulations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    12. Haji Bashi, Mazaher & De Tommasi, Luciano & Le Cam, Andreea & Relaño, Lorena Sánchez & Lyons, Padraig & Mundó, Joana & Pandelieva-Dimova, Ivanka & Schapp, Henrik & Loth-Babut, Karolina & Egger, Christ, 2023. "A review and mapping exercise of energy community regulatory challenges in European member states based on a survey of collective energy actors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    13. Hoicka, Christina E. & MacArthur, Julie L., 2018. "From tip to toes: Mapping community energy models in Canada and New Zealand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 162-174.
    14. Radtke, Jörg & Ohlhorst, Dörte, 2021. "Community Energy in Germany – Bowling Alone in Elite Clubs?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    15. Maksym Koltunov & Simon Pezzutto & Adriano Bisello & Georg Lettner & Albert Hiesl & Wilfried van Sark & Atse Louwen & Eric Wilczynski, 2023. "Mapping of Energy Communities in Europe: Status Quo and Review of Existing Classifications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-25, May.
    16. Holstenkamp, Lars, 2019. "What do we know about cooperative sustainable electrification in the global South? A synthesis of the literature and refined social-ecological systems framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 307-320.
    17. Emily Prehoda & Richelle Winkler & Chelsea Schelly, 2019. "Putting Research to Action: Integrating Collaborative Governance and Community-Engaged Research for Community Solar," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, January.
    18. Romero-Castro, Noelia & Piñeiro-Chousa, Juan & Pérez-Pico, Ada, 2021. "Dealing with heterogeneity and complexity in the analysis of the willingness to invest in community renewable energy in rural areas," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    19. Bidwell, David, 2013. "The role of values in public beliefs and attitudes towards commercial wind energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 189-199.
    20. Boon, Frank Pieter & Dieperink, Carel, 2014. "Local civil society based renewable energy organisations in the Netherlands: Exploring the factors that stimulate their emergence and development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 297-307.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:engenv:v:20:y:2009:i:3:p:303-317. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.