Berliner Energietisch, Germany

A promising attempt to reclaim Berlin's energy supply

In 2011 the non-partisan alliance Berliner Energietisch, roughly translated as Berlin Energy Roundtable, initiated a direct democracy campaign in which Berlin's citizens were asked to ‘reclaim’ the city's power. The coalition of 56 local civil society groups called for the remunicipalisation of Berlin's energy distribution grid by the new local grid operator (Berlin Energie) and for the establishment of a Berlin-owned local energy supplier (Berliner Stadtwerke). The demands were spelled out in a draft law that called for an ecological, social and democratic transformation of Berlin's energy supply.

Switched On London, United Kingdom

Clean, affordable energy. For people, not for profit

Switched On London (SOL) is a campaign coalition uniting trade unions, environmentalists and grassroots campaigns from across the UK. SOL is demanding that the Greater London Authority (GLA) – the regional government authority responsible for Greater London – set up a new, fully public municipal energy supply and services company.

Brandenburg, Germany

Lieberoser Heide: Europe’s largest solar farm finances munitions clearing

Summary The example of Lieberoser Heide shows how the public sector can become economically active at the local level in renewable energy projects. The former GDR used large parts of the country as military training grounds. Much like the Western allies, the Red Army did not care too much about protecting the environment. Worse still, …

Solar-Genossenschaft Lausitz, Gemany

Energy transition against opencast mining

Summary Southeast of Berlin and near the Polish border lies the region of Lausitz, one of Europe’s largest brown coal fields that supplies the coal for Europe’s third most polluting industrial plant: Vattenfall’s Jänschwalde power plant. [1] The industry turns ever-greater parts of the landscape into open pits and devours one village after another. Most…

Heating project to reduce energy poverty in Told, Hungary

A Hungarian Roma village overcomes energy poverty

Summary The example of Told shows how ideas to reduce energy poverty imported from the Global South are also helpful on the European continent. The project integrates the three pillars of sustainability—social, economic and ecological—in a commendable fashion and, additionally and implicitly, tackles ethnic stigmatisation. It is an encouraging example, because minimal efforts have led…

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