Renewable Energy Cooperatives as a Stimulating Factor in Household Energy Savings

Renewable Energy Cooperatives as a Stimulating Factor in Household Energy Savings

Hoppe, T. (TU Delft Organisation & Governance)
Coenen, Frans (University of Twente)
Bekendam, Maria T. (Tilburg University)

2019

Little is known about how renewable energy cooperatives (REScoops) try to influence energy conservation among households and the resulting impact. In this article the main research question is: What is the predictive value of renewable energy cooperatives on intention to save energy, engagement in energy-saving actions, and self-reported energy conservation by households? A survey was conducted to answer this question. Data analysis involved multivariate and binary logistic regression on data from two cooperatives: Ecopower (Belgium; N = 1000) and Enercoop (France; N = 8290). Results show that in addition to psychological and socio-demographic variables, REScoop items modestly contribute to the explained variation in engagement in energy-saving actions and reported energy conservation. At Enercoop 18.2% of the respondents indicated that their cooperative contributed to household energy savings; for Ecopower this figure was 36.9%. Moreover, at Enercoop, 38.7% of the respondents reported consuming less energy since obtaining cooperative membership; at Ecopower this was 64.7%. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.

renewable energy cooperative
grassroots initiative
community energy
energy efficiency
energy conservation
energy consumption behavior
energy savings

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4fc2e395-5261-464f-80e8-8b8d45ed1f4d

https://doi.org/10.3390/en12071188

1996-1073

Energies, 12 (7), 1-33

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2019 T. Hoppe, Frans Coenen, Maria T. Bekendam