Public Values and Community Energy: Lessons from the US and UK

Steven M. Hoffman, Shane Fudge, Lissa Pawlisch, Angela High-Pippert, Michael Peters and Joel Haskard
Additional contact information
Steven M. Hoffman: Department of Political Science, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota 55105, USA
Shane Fudge: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Truro, TR11 4DW, UK
Lissa Pawlisch: Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), University of Minnesota's Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships & Extension, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA
Angela High-Pippert: Department of Political Science, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota 55105, USA
Michael Peters: School of Construction Management and Engineering, Whiteknights, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6UR, UK
Joel Haskard: Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), University of Minnesota's Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships & Extension, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA

Sustainability, 2013, vol. 5, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: This paper examines some of the normative aspects of “community energy” programmes—defined here as decentralized forms of energy production and distributed energy technologies where production decisions are made as close as possible to sources of consumption. Such projects might also display a degree of separation from the formal political process. The development of a community energy system often generates a great deal of debate about both the degree of public support for such programmes and the values around which programmes ought to be organized. Community energy programmes also raise important issues regarding the energy choice problem, including questions of process , that is, by whom a project is developed and the influence of both community and exogenous actors, as well as certain outcome issues regarding the spatial and social distribution of energy. The case studies, drawn from community energy programmes in both the United States and the United Kingdom, allow for a careful examination of all of these factors, considering in particular the complex interplay and juxtaposition between the ideas of “public value” and “public values”.

Keywords: community energy; public values; public sphere; local energy governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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