Image: Advertisement for the municipal electricity utility in Hamburg (round 1900)

In Germany, there is a strong movement to claim the gas, electricity and heating networks back from private corporations. Initiated by civil organisations, they are pushing the political arena to take action towards a remunicipalisation of the energy system. After setting the theoretical background (in part 1), we will look into two cases: Hamburg and Berlin. These examples provide crucial insights into the interplay between civil initiatives and the political arena and allow to draw important conclusions. 

A municipal utility in Hamburg: good try, no cigar

As we saw in the first part, the referendum in Hamburg pushed the municipality to buy the electricity, gas and heating networks back from Vattenfall. Therefore, things seem to be on the right tracks there. However, a more careful observation shows that the model is missing a crucial part: the democratic governance.

In order to understand where the step was missed, we have to go back in time. During the phase preceding the referendum, several local actors created an energy cooperative, which aim was to apply to the concession for operating the electricity grid. It’s name is Energienetz Hamburg. They made a deal with a Dutch TSO, Alliander, which pulled out at the last moment.

Unfortunately, although Energienetz succeeded to attract a large number of members who commited to a common capital of 50 million euros, the municipality did not include them in the deal for the concession.

This is a missed opportunity, which could have seen a new type of civil-public partnership and the implementation in a state-run company of the cooperative decision-making model: one member (one user) = one vote.

On the brighter side, this energy coop. is now playing an important role in Hamburg, by organizing debates (called Wärmedialogue) to promote and push the municipality to investigate alternative sources of district heating. One solution for instance would be to recuperate the heat from a copper furnace on the South East side of the city instead of using fossil-fuel power plants. As mentioned in this video (to watch absolutely if you have 12 minutes to spare!), district heating is crucial because this represent a large number of homes (>450 000), which generally do not have other choices (e.g., renters who de facto have district heating). Therefore, prices and heating sources become central issues.

In Hamburg, an advisory board was created and adjunct to the Energy Agency of the city. As explained in this article: “Members of this new Board include a broad range of 20 representatives from society, science, business, industry and most importantly all local grid companies, also including Vattenfall and E.ON, which still remain main shareholders of the district heating and gas distribution grid until the purchase options has been exercised.” However, the board exert a mere advisory function and has limited decision-making power. As the article states, this is one of the main challenge that Hamburg faces: “avoid [that] the board becom[es] a toothless tiger”.

Twists and turns in Berlin

In Berlin, the story started in a similar fashion as in Hamburg but developed very differently. A dynamic campaign to remunicipalise the networks was launched in 2013, orchestrated by the civic initiative Berliner Energietisch. The referendum attracted more than 600 000 people but unfortunately, failed short of 20 000 “Ja” votes.

The actors are pretty much the same as in Hamburg:

• private utilities (e.g., Stromnetz Berlin, belonging to Vattenfall) are running the show at the moment,
• a municipal energy provider, Berliner Stadtwerke, daughter of the water utility and a minicipal grid operator Berlin Energie were created as a result of the campaign in order to apply for the concession to operate the grids. Berlin Energie is investigating interesting concepts, like the combined networks (link in German).
• an energy cooperative, Bürgerenergie Berlin, alive and kicking, aims at buying back and operating the grids.

Interestingly, everyone though that the game was over after the failed referendum but this was forgetting the importance of the political game. Indeed, the municipal vote in 2016 saw the formation of a new “Red-Red-Green” (SPD-Die Linke-Die Grüne) coalition in Berlin, which put back the remunicipalisation process on the agenda.

And here are the different options that are being evaluated presently by the municipality. We find applicants like in Hamburg: In white, the fully municipal operators (Berlin Energie) and in grey, the fully privatised actors (NBB Netzgesellschaft and Stromnetz Berlin). But we also find more funky applications: in white-grey hashed, either classical public-private partnership for the gas networks or more a complex civil-public-private partnership for the electricity grid. A new field of possible has been open. We are all very curious what will happen now!

This is interesting as it points out the joint role of the civil society and of the political arena in creating new spaces. It starts by a strong civic movement and is enabled by a favorable political landscape.

To finish, here a second little video that we did with TNI at the occasion of the conference “Against the NAM”. I had to answer the question “Why should we treat energy as a commons?”.

The post Remunicipalisation of energy systems – Part 2 appeared first on P2P Foundation.

Image: Advertisement for the municipal electricity utility in Hamburg (round 1900)

In Germany, there is a strong movement to claim the gas, electricity and heating networks back from private corporations. Initiated by civil organisations, they are pushing the political arena to take action towards a remunicipalisation of the energy system. This is a very interesting process, which allows to explore key concepts such as the right to energy and democratic governance as well as the interplay between politics and the civil society.

I presented this story during a conference on about the potential remunicipalisation of the Groningen gas field at the beginning of January (see previous article). You will find here all the slides from the presentation, which you can download and reuse (but please, cite me!). All sources are indicated at the end of the post.

Energy is a commons

Firstly, I will quickly lay some theoretical foundations to the relationships between energy and the commons. The following slide is an illustration of the differences between energy used as a commodity or a common good.

• Energy is a commodity: it is produced to make profit (even green): we are clients/consumers and our decision power is to chose between different companies. The incentive in this case is to produce as much energy as possible (or raise the prices) to increase the profits. The prices are set either by the producer (the owner of the power plant) or by the market.
• Energy is a commons: it is produced to respond to a need and we are producers and consumers at the same time, this is called “prosumers”. We can decide together with our neighbours on the system we want to have. The incentive is to produce what is needed and save it. Being a commons does not mean that energy becomes free of charge but that the prices can be adapted to our needs (we control it and use it to foster social and climatic justice). Think of water, which is also a common good: it still has a cost for the consumer. But you don’t make profit out of it because it is considered as a human right. We should look at energy in that way.

Cooperatives and municipal utilities to foster energy democracy

When we think energy democracy, one thing that comes to mind are cooperatives. There are many throughout Europe, which can have very different financial structures and sizes. But they have one thing in common, which makes them very particular: their ownership and governance modes.

The infrastructure is owned by the members, who each have a vote. Decisions are taken on the model “one member, one vote”.

The other form of organisation that holds great potential for energy democracy are municipal utilities. They are known in Europe for the water utilities and used to play a large role for energy as well. But the wave of privatisations in the 1990s put them in the hands of private corporations. Since a few years, some cities are taking a reverse path and buy their networks and utilities back. This is very interesting because municipal utilities, which inherently belong to all, have potentially one crucial advantage over cooperatives: as all inhabitants/users can be considered as members, they might prove more inclusive structures. However, this is only true if the governance mode is copied on the coop one: “one member one vote”. We will see that it is not necessarily the case.

Hamburg in the driver seat

First, here are a few basics on the structure of the energy system in Germany:

• On the one hand, there are the grid operators (TSO): they own and operate the local electricity, gas and heating networks. They get concessions of 20 years, given by the federal states: these are quasi-monopolies. They compete to get the concession but once the get it, they have no competitors.

• On the other hand, there are the energy providers, who operate the power plants and commercialise energy (they are the users of the grid). Here it can be anyone producing energy, from the very big to the very small.

In Hamburg, the concession for the networks was hold by Vattenfall and ran out in 2013. People then decided to regain control on the grid. So the city of Hamburg grounded a municipal utility (called “Hamburg Energie”), as a daughter of the water utility. It is now an energy provider, which focuses on producing and selling local green energy (mostly electricity but also some gas).

Next to that, a collective of citizens founded the initiative “Unser Hamburg Unser Netz”. They ran a campaign and had a referendum, during which people voted in favour of a full remunicipalisation of the networks. Therefore, the electricity network was bought back in 2014 and the gas and heating networks should get back in the public hand by 2018/2019.

So things seem to be on a right track in Hamburg, and it was indeed experienced as a tremendous victory for the supporters of energy democracy. But… something is missing in the Hamburg model: the citizen participation, based on the cooperative model. Indeed, both the municipal energy utility and municipal TSO are run as companies and users are not taking an active part in decision-making (they are merely consulted).

That’s it for now. Next time, we’ll have a look at energy cooperatives in Hamburg and at the story in Berlin. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, you can watch the whole presentation, that was recorded by TNI (whom I thank very much!).

Photo by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory – PNNL

The post Remunicipalisation of energy systems – Part 1 appeared first on P2P Foundation.

Amsterdam. September 2-3, 2016

Peer Value: Advancing the Commons Collaborative Economy is a conference integrating conversations and plans of action for shaping and connecting the Commons on a global level.

Our final program is listed below,  please join us in Amsterdam!

The conference is organized along three tracks:

• Track 1: P2P: Inclusive Politics, Activism and Law for the Commons
• Track 2: Decentralized Tech and Beyond:Global Design,Local Production
• Track 3: From Platform to Open Cooperativism

We will explore questions such as:

• What are the conditions that encourage communities to work as peers, creating commons?
• What are the best practices communities can adopt to safeguard their resilience?
• Decentralization – why is it important, and how is it implemented and maintained?
• How can the working methodologies honed by well-established digital communities act as transitional guidelines for sustainable “material” manufacturing?
• What about social innovation and livelihoods – how does contributory and open accounting work with the systems of value creation found in CBPP?
• How can civil society participate in recommending policy proposals that support CBPP for governments at the local, regional, national – even global – levels?

Join your peers, add your voice and take part in the growing conversation about the Commons as an important, emerging collaborative social model.

Register here

SCHEDULE:

Day One: Friday 2/9/2016

8:30: Registration and Welcome coffee
9:00: Opening and Intro Day 1, Frank Kresin
9:30: Commons policy for collaborative economy & knowledge Plenary Session – Mayo Fuster, moderator. Steve Hill, Vasilis Niaros, Speakers.
9:30: Blockchain for the commons and Foundups – Amanda Jansen
10:30: Break
11:00: A Lab for the Urban Commons and the City as a Commons: LabGov AMS and the CO-Ams process. Debate – Moderator: Sophie Bloemen. Speakers: John Grin (UvA), Stan Majoor (HvA), Faiza Dadi (Gemeente Amsterdam), Christian Iaione (LabGov Bologna), Thomas de Groot (Deelraad Amsterdam West, Piraten Partij), Joachim Meerkerk (Pakhuis de Zwijger).
11:00: Online Participatory Cultures Plenary (90min), Q&A (20min) – Moderator: Frank Kresin. Speakers: Lisha Sterling, Craig Ambrose, Rachel O’Dwyer, Samer Hassan, Pablo Oranguren.
11:00: Design Global, Manufacture Local Plenary (90min), Q&A (20-30min)
13:00: Lunch
14:00: Is the EU only a problem or can it also be part of the solution?
Debate – Moderator: David Hammerstein. Speakers: Sophie Bloemen, Michel Bauwens, Carmen Lozano, Mayo Fuster, Melanie Dulong, Jaromil.
14:00: From Platform to Open Cooperativism.
Plenary – Moderator: Josef Davies Coates. Speakers: Jessica Gordon Nembhard , John Restakis, Alex Pazaitis, Douglas Rushkoff (VOIP), Trebor Scholz (VOIP).
14:00: A Lab for the Urban Commons and the City as a Commons: LabGov AMS and the CO-Ams process.
Presentations and panel
14:00: Design Global, Manufacture Local.
Plenary – Moderator: Michiel Schwarz. Speakers: Vasilis Niaros, Tiberius Brastaviceanu, Lisha Sterling.
15:30: Break
16:00: Policies and Law for the Commons. Presentation and panel – Moderator: Lisha Sterling. Speakers: Janelle Orsi (via VOIP), David Bollier.
16:00: Licensing for the Commons.
Plenary – Moderator: Vasilis Niaros. Speakers: Bruno Carballa, Baruch Gottlieb, Michel Bauwens.
16:00: A Lab for the Urban Commons and the City as a Commons: LabGov AMS and the CO-Ams process.
Workshop – Joachim Meerkerk
16:00: Empowering People: Renewable energy as a commons. Workshop
16:00: Workshop Pro commons policy & collaborative economy. Workshop – Moderator: Mayo Fuster.
16:00:  EU and the Commons: Proposals for European policy to promote the common. Workshop 2
17:10: Wrap up of Day 1, Frank Kresin
17:30: Closing drinks.

DAY 2: Saturday 3/9/2016

9:00: Registration and Welcome coffee
9:30: Welcome and Intro day 2, Frank Kresin
9:30: Sustainable Livelihoods and Alternative Financing Plenary – Moderator: Stacco Troncoso. Speakers: Sarah de Heusch, Carmen Lozano Bright, Lisha Sterling.
10:00: (Em)powering People: Renewable Energy as a Commons
Plenary. – Moderator: David Hammerstein. Speakers: Cecile Blanchet, David Bollier, Abdelhulheb Choco (tbc), Zuiderlicht (tbc).
11:00: Break
11:30: State Power and Commoning: Transcending a Problematic Relationship Plenary
11:30: Workshop (Em)powering People: Renewable Energy as a Commons. Workshop. – Host: David Hammerstein.
11:30: Meta Economic Networks. Plenary. – Moderator: Stacco Troncoso. Speakers: Dmytri Kleiner, George Dafermos, Genevieve Parkes, Stephanie Rearick.
13:00: Lunch
14:00: From Platform to Open Cooperativism. Plenary, – Moderator: Josef Davies Coates. Speakers: Donnie Maclurcan, Josef Davies Coates, Nathan Schneider (VOIP), Pat Conaty.
14:00: State Power and Commoning: Transcending a Problematic Relationship. Plenary. – Moderator: Alex Pazaitis. Speakers: David Bollier, Michel Bauwens, Jessica Gordon Nembhard, John Restakis, George Dafermos, Mayo Fuster.
14:00: State Power and Commoning: Transcending a Problematic Relationship. Q&A Lounge
15:30: Break
16:00: Introducing the European Commons Assembly. Plenary. – Moderator: Lisha Sterling. Speakers: Martin Kirk, Bayo Akomolafe, Hilary Wainwright.
16:00: Ditigal Democracy for the Commons by Oview App. Plenary. – Moderator: Amanda Jansen. Speakers: Coby Babani.
16:00: Sustainable Livelihoods.
17:10: Closing remarks. Plenary. – Speaker: Michel Bauwens.
17:50: Wrap up, Frank Kresin
18:00: Closing drinks

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