Community renewable energy’s problematic relationship with social justice: insights from Ontario

Abstract

ABSTRACT A recent surge of studies from Europe has shown that membership bodies of community renewable energy (CRE) initiatives predominantly consist of affluent white men. This demographic concentration points at a disconnect between CRE activity and its often-assumed potential in simultaneously advancing decarbonisation and social justice. Through a triangulation of documentary policy analysis and interviews with leading members (N = 11) of renewable energy co-operatives (RE co-ops) in Ontario, Canada, this qualitative study sets out to identify factors driving the exclusion of marginalised and frontline communities from CRE initiatives. Findings reveal that a combination of inadequate policy support and complex preparatory activities in Ontario geared the pursuit of CRE development towards affluent, professional class groups with access to necessary practical capacities. To add insult to injury, RE co-ops responded to this precarious policy and regulatory environment by increasing their minimum investment requirements and targeting affluent individuals in their outreach activities, which rendered CRE ownership even more exclusionary for marginalised groups and resulted in the exacerbation of existing inequities between and within communities. Overall, this study reinforces the importance of marginalised groups’ engagement in policy design processes and of explicitly addressing practical capacity inequities between and within communities to ensure just outcomes of CRE policies and activity. Further, it problematises the promotion of CRE activity through competitive energy procurement policies such as feed-in tariffs (FITs) as inherently advantageous for groups with greater and more immediate access to practical capacities.