Tools and network to grow energy communities

Cooperative Energy Week has hosted a session dedicated to the tools and resources for energy communities (CE): digital platforms, legal frameworks and collaborative initiatives that promote a fairer, participatory and rooted energy model in the territory.

A network for the Energy Communities of Barcelona

Anna San Clemente, of the SEBA Association, has presented the Barcelona Energy Communities Network, a space born to interconnect the CE of the city and share challenges, doubts and good practices.

Despite the importance of the meeting spaces, he emphasized the need for a sustained work in time to respond to the increasing demands of the CE. Some of the identified needs are:

– Accompaniment in political incidence and creation of a specific working group.
– Communication campaign to reach audiences who do not yet know or do not trust the model.
– Strategic debates to define a territorial model consistent with the subidentities of the neighborhoods and that values ​​long -term viability.

The role of the Federation of Consumer Cooperatives

Manuela, technician of the Federation of Consumer Cooperatives of Catalonia, has stated the role that the Federation plays in the support and promotion of the CE. Currently they bring together seven federated CEs, which offer legal and legal advice to formalize and grow, as well as support to consumer groups and other initiatives in the territory.

The Federation is positioned as a reference point for promoting co -operatives and energy transition from the community base.

Civic Energy: Services for an effective transition

Civic Energy is an alliance formed by the Aiguasol, Azimut360 cooperatives and the cooperative look. They work from intercooperation to provide services adapted to the specific needs of CEs, such as:

– Legal advice
– Strategic Planning
– Financial management
– Selection of technology
– Education and community revitalization
– Follow -up and optimization of projects

One of his prominent projects is Joinenergy, an application designed jointly with the same CE. It consists of two tools:

– JOINUSER: It offers clear and transparent information to the community (economic, environmental indicators, production and consumption forecast).
– Joinmanager: It facilitates the internal management of the EC.

Ethical insurance for energy communities

Dani Alonso, of Arç Cooperativa, has presented the insurance services that they offer to the CE. As a specialty ethical insurance broker, they design collective policies that adapt coverage and generate scale economies. Key products include:

– Civil liability
– Material damage
– Protection for people with responsibility in the energy communities.

Arç is committed to an insurance model aligned with the values ​​of the social and solidarity economy, with transparency, coherence and environmental commitment.

We are communities: a proposal with citizen governance

Roger Reixac has presented the Som Comunities project, an initiative that is committed to an energy model based on popular sovereignty, co -operativism and territorial rooting. It is born in response to the oligopolistic energy model and is committed to building alternatives from the organized citizens.

Som Energia, which is part of it, is today the largest energy cooperative in Europe, with more than 86,000 members. Reixac emphasized the importance of governance in this process: “Decisions must be citizenship, not private interests.”

He has also announced that in 2025 a new tool for the integral management of the CE, designed from the base, will be presented to facilitate corporate, administrative and technical management, with technology of citizen governance.

The campaign “Add yourself!” and the community -energy resource

For people and territories that still do not have a CE, the “Suma’t!” Campaign has been launched, with the aim of creating a network, arousing interest and promoting the creation of local CE when there is too much critical.

In parallel, the Community Energetica.cat platform has been presented, a public resource promoted by the ICAEN to facilitate CE creation and connection in Catalonia. The website includes guides, resources and useful information to start the path to energy autonomy.

Òscar Sánchez (ICAEN) emphasized that the platform especially affects the EC’s initial phase, while Annais Blas emphasized its function as a tool for connecting and visibility. You can consult existing, open or closed CE, and filter by type of leadership (public or private), as well as access to the Resource Central, which offers:

– Useful documents
– Good practices
– legal framework
– Management tools

The platform seeks to inform, activate, connect and empower. It is a specific example of collaboration between public administration and cooperatives to advance the energy transition from the base.

A clear conclusion: change is already here

The morning sessions have made a clear idea: change is here. And it comes from below, with cooperation, consciousness and sovereignty. We move towards an energy model where the profit is no longer the center and organized citizenship takes center stage.