Energy Democracy and the City: Evaluating the Practice and Potential of Municipal Sustainability Planning

Frontiers in Communication

Teron, Lemir¹  Ekoh, Susan S.² 

[1] Department of Environmental Studies, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, United States;Graduate Program in Environmental Science, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, United States

关键词: Energy democracy;    Energy justice;    just sustainabilities;    sustainability planning;    sustainability energy utility;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcomm.2018.00008

学科分类：计算机网络和通讯

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

While calls for, and work towards, energy democracy have been entrenched in social movements, and the concept has a burgeoning posture in academic discourse, perhaps the most significant implication for its development is the potential for its implementation at the local governance scale. In order for municipal efforts to be wholly democratic, energy policy must be accessible and responsive to the needs of all communities. This necessitates the convergence of an energy democracy paradigm with principles and practices of both energy justice and Just Sustainabilities that encourage communities and households' entrée to the energy planning arena, as participants in policy making and with access to renewable innovations. By using a case study as its means of analysis, this paper will evaluate municipal scale energy programming by considering the prospects of energy democracy on a sub-state scale. In our analysis of Washington, DC's Sustainable Energy Utility, we highlight challenges that limit the potential for energy democracy in the nation's capital, along with practices that lead DC towards energy justice and democracy. We conclude by offering indicators for democratized urban energy planning.

【 授权许可】

CC BY