Mapping the social impact of energy communities

Energy communities are a new stakeholder in the energy system, different from private investors and public enterprises. While the environmental and economic impact of sustainable energy projects is well recognised and largely measurable, it is difficult to make the same claim about the social impact.

This report presents a non-exhaustive, yet rigorous, set of indicators of the social impact of energy communities. The indicators are grouped into nine categories: organisational logic and sector structure, sociocultural impacts, impacts related to technology, knowledge, socio-environmental impacts, broader societal benefits, policy and political processes, practices and socio-economic impacts. Additionally, the report assesses the challenges in measuring and operationalising the integration of social indicators in energy communities.

The report is the result of a multi-stakeholder workshop held in November 2021 with academics, practitioners and other stakeholders to reflect on the various social impacts of community energy groups, analyzed through their respective fields of expertise. It has been jointly prepared by the European federation of citizen energy cooperatives REScoop.eu, Electra Energy cooperative, and the Heinrich Boell Foundation Office in Thessaloniki, Greece.