Gabriel Chan: The Implementation of Energy Democracy in Rural Electric Cooperatives

10/31/2022 Colloquium Series - Gabriel Chan

Power to, from, and for the People: The Implementation of Energy Democracy in Rural Electric Cooperatives

Social movements and theories of “energy democracy” organize around calls for local ownership, fairness and justice, and empowerment. Despite this focus, there has been little research on how to create participation and participatory structures in energy governance, especially in incumbent, centralized institutions, such as electric utilities. Here we analyze three cases of cooperatively owned electric utilities in the United States, understanding them through lenses of polycentricity and property rights. Viewing energy democracy as a process of governing institutional arrangements for the maintenance of collective property rights, we find great diversity in the actors that motivate energy democracy in electric cooperatives. Created not only through direct participation by member-owners, but also by representative participation through networks of staff and professional workers, we argue that energy democracy movements and theorists need to better recognize the diversity of institutional arrangements that create and maintain the rights for energy democracy. In conclusion, we call for specific research and strategies to grow energy democracy in centralized, incumbent energy institutions.