Born from the European Commission. The idea was simple: give ordinary citizens the power to produce, share, and benefit from renewable energy themselves. But why did the Commission create this concept?
To break the old energy monopoly
Before energy communities, the electricity market was dominated by large energy companies. I
ndividual citizens could only buy power from these companies or, if they had solar panels, sell their surplus back at low prices.
Ordinary people had no real say in where their energy came from or how much they paid for it.
The Commission wanted to change this by putting citizens back at the centre of the energy system
To lower energy bills and fight energy poverty
With unstable energy prices, many families struggle to pay for electricity.
Energy communities help reduce these costs.
By making and sharing renewable power locally, members pay much less than market rates.
This leads to big yearly savings for those who join.
The European Citizens’ Energy Package was built specifically to lower bills and help everyone afford power through shared green energy.
To reduce dependence on fossil fuels
The Commission wants less reliance on imported fuels.
Making energy locally helps protect Europe from high price changes.
Every green kilowatt-hour replaces gas or coal.
To accelerate the clean energy transition
Europe has big climate targets for 2030.
To reach them, we must triple our green energy.
Energy communities help by using private money and getting local people to support new projects.
This makes the move to clean energy a shared goal for everyone to work on together.
To create a fairer, more democratic energy system
The Commission wanted a fair system.
These communities focus on people, not profit.
They help the environment and local areas.
This gives people control over their own energy.
In short: The European Commission created energy communities to put people back in charge of their energy, lower bills, reduce dependence on foreign fossil fuels, and accelerate the transition to clean, local power.