On 3 April 2020 at 16:00 CET (11:00 EDT), the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (EENR) Center is hosting a webinar on 'Non-Profit Energy Cooperatives as the Catalyst of the Movement of People to Renewable Electricity'. The webinar will discuss sustainable development and decarbonization of energy at the global level.
Professor Melissa Scanlan will talk about research on non-profit energy cooperatives she is leading, which demonstrates how different aspects of the transition are already underway. Each case study, from a comparative perspective of Spain and the United States, includes an overview of the cooperative’s history, type, and economic sector; context based on its industry and country; best practices in environmental sustainability; and its governance and cooperative legal structure. The panel will discuss Spanish renewable energy cooperatives involved in various points in the energy system and a US electricity cooperative that is leading the transition to renewables.
Professor Gabe Pacyniak will then discuss how the rural electricity cooperative model in the United States also presents some challenges when it comes to shifting to a lower-carbon electricity grid. The more than 900 electricity cooperatives in the United States have generally been slower to shift to lower-carbon electricity in comparison to other types of utilities. Pacyniak will share research that identifies structural and institutional factors for this lag and will also highlight opportunities to strengthen cooperative support and oversight to accelerate the shift to a low-carbon electricity system.