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Community energy: Entanglements of community, state, and private sector
Author(s) -
Creamer Emily,
Eadson Will,
Veelen Bregje,
Pinker Annabel,
Tingey Margaret,
BraunholtzSpeight Tim,
Markantoni Marianna,
Foden Mike,
LaceyBarnacle Max
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geography compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.587
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 1749-8198
DOI - 10.1111/gec3.12378
Subject(s) - energy (signal processing) , diversity (politics) , state (computer science) , sociology , energy sector , control reconfiguration , object (grammar) , economic system , public relations , political science , economics , law , engineering , computer science , statistics , mathematics , algorithm , artificial intelligence , embedded system
The decarbonisation of energy systems is leading to a reconfiguration of the geographies of energy. One example is the emergence of community energy, which has become a popular object of study for geographers. Although widely acknowledged to be a contested, capacious, and flexible term, “community energy” is commonly presented as singular, bounded, and localised. In this paper, we challenge this conception of community energy by considering evidence about the role and influence of three categories of actors: community, state, and private sector. We demonstrate how community energy projects are unavoidably entangled with a diversity of actors and institutions operating at and across multiple scales. We therefore argue that community energy is enabled and constituted by trans‐scalar assemblages of overlapping actors, which demands multi‐sectoral participation and coordination. We point to the need for further academic attention on the boundaries between these actors to better understand the role of different intermediary practices and relationships in facilitating the development of decentralised energy systems with just outcomes.