Community Ownership of Renewable Energy Projects

Considering the needs of all stakeholders, including community leaders, government officials, industry leaders, Tribal leaders, and researchers, this project aims to investigate the potential of community ownership of renewable energy projects. Community ownership of renewable energy projects at different scales is gaining more attention in the face of growing distributed energy markets and the rapidly changing policy landscape. A shared ownership model in various forms and structures can create a win-win outcome for all stakeholders, regardless of the scale and location surrounding a specific project. The objective is to investigate this potential in all kinds of renewables, including but not limited to solar, wind, battery storage, hydro, and networked geothermal energy. The most advanced is community ownership of solar projects, as we aim to define community-owned solar further and map out the critical elements of community-owned solar projects, including various ownership structures, financing mechanisms, policies, and programs. We also aim to explore community ownership as an option when all relevant stakeholders surrounding the siting and permitting of large-scale renewable energy projects are negotiating a package of community benefits agreements or host community agreements. The community ownership or public ownership of energy infrastructure also aligns with the broader theme of PIT, focusing on how the technology is used and managed in the public interest, while redefining public ownership and enhancing community capacity building. This project is led by Dr. Jungwoo Chun, Assistant Director, and Lecturer at MIT SIC.