Selected aspects of ensuring energy security in the municipality

Abstract

In a modern democratic state, it is fully justified that local governments influence on energy policy. The most serious reasons for municipalities to pursue their energy policy include implementing principles such as decentralization, subsidiarity, autonomy, and independence by local governments. It should be remembered that local governments are public authorities acting to meet the local communities’ needs. In the Polish institutional conditions, local governments may be jointly responsible for the national energy policy only if they can create local energy policy based on their energy potential. Bearing in mind the above, the relationship between the local energy policy and the national energy policy is different for each commune, depending on a given territorial unit’s specific conditions. The specificity and quality of these relationships are also determined by the municipal authorities, which can approach the policies they create strategically or rely on improvisation. In the first case, local governments plan and implement specific activities that make up the energy policy process, while in the second case, they wait for the activity and involvement of government administration bodies.