Energy communities refer to a wide range of collective energy actions that involve citizens’ participation in the energy system. They can be understood as a way to organise collective energy actions around open, democratic participation and governance, and the provision of benefits for the members or the local community. It is a broad concept, that can refer to collective switching campaigns, collective investments in solar panels, but also the ownership of an energy supply company, or even a distribution network. Depending on their activity and on the national regulatory framework where they operate, energy communities can take different forms and legal entities, like cooperatives, partnerships, companies with a community interest, foundations, non-profit organisations, trusts, and associations. 

Through the Clean energy for all Europeans package adopted in 2019, the EU has introduced the concept of energy communities in its legislation, notably as citizen energy communities and renewable energy communities. 

Dedicated page on the portal of the European Commission: https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/markets-and-consumers/energy-communities_en 

Caramizaru, E. and Uihlein, A., Energy communities: an overview of energy and social innovation, 2020: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC119433 

Energy Cities, Community Energy: A practical guide to reclaiming power, 2020: https://energy-cities.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Community-Energy-Guide-web.pdf