Energy Democracy Now

Date: 10 April 2015

The World Social Forum brings together social movements and grassroots organisations from all over the world. It’s a melting pot of ideas and energy, creating opportunities for people working on social and environmental justice issues to meet and organise together.

 I recently returned from Tunis, where the forum was held this year, and took part in a workshop on energy democracy run by Global Justice Now, Platform, Demand Climate Justice and Fuel Poverty Action.

Tadzio Mueller talked about the Energiewende (energy transition) in Germany, a process that has resulted in days where renewable energy has provided the country with 100% of its electricity and the net basic cost of the energy transition has been zero. An astonishing 60% of this renewable infrastructure is owned by co-operatives, which means that the process is as much about transitioning to energy democracy as it is about moving away from fossil fuels.

Vivian Yi Huang from Asian Pacific Environmental Network spoke about her experiences organising against corporate control of energy in the US. She gave one example in New Mexico where a huge coal power plant has been built on Navajo land. The Navajo communities get no benefits from the devastation of their environment. As Vivian observed, “we aren’t just asking Chevron to go green, we want people to have control of their energy.”

Morten Thaysen, who was representing Fuel Poverty Action (FPA) but who also works at Global Justice Now, brought our attention to how privatisation in the UK has failed. “One of the solutions to climate change is to use less energy, but there is a situation in the UK where in the winter 200 people a day die from the cold. The government’s solution to this issue is simply to provide more choice – to break up the Big 6, and in the mean time, to launch a publicity campaign (at the tax payers’ expense) about how you can save £200 if you change your energy provider.” FPA’s solution is community controlled energy systems, which they say will also transition us away from fossil fuels. To make the change needed FPA organise in a way that attempts to foreground those who are most impacted by high energy bills and fuel poverty – the disabled, elderly and less well-off people.

Speaking about climate change in the context of Typhoon Yolanda Mae Buenaventura from Jubilee South (Asia Pacific Movement on Debt & Development) spoke about the urgent need to move away from fossil fuels. She spoke about how in the Philippines as in many parts of the world, energy is gendered. Without access to affordable energy, women work longer and harder.

Soumya Dutta of Bharat Jan Vigyan Jathain India talked about his experiences in India where energy is not always about electricity. Many households do not have any access to electricity but rather rely on biomass for their energy production. “We hear a lot of good things about sustainable energy in India but there is not a lot happening on the ground. And even where it is happening it is often corporate controlled.” For instance a large 10,000 MW solar park is being built in Rajasthan. Dutta said that the corporate control of the project has led to little community involvement and the deprivation of water from the local communities. Interestingly energy privatisation in India started in 1991. Since then there has been an increase in electricity production from a national capacity of 66,000 MW to 258,000 MW. But the percentage of those connected to the grid has not increased. 50 – 60% of the population still do not have access to electricity.

The World Social Forum was both a demonstration of common experiences of communities being eroded by the interests of multinational corporations and how those communities are resisting in different ways. Struggles for alternative energy are at the forefront of this effort. And the movement is stronger because of the renewable technologies which it can demonstrate as positive alternatives. But it can’t just be about a technological solution, it needs to address issues of ownership, democracy and justice in order for it be truly progressive.

The fight for energy democracy is a key part of the broader movement for progressive change. One audience member contested the use of the term energy democracy, because it failed to address the fact that capital owns democracy. One of the panel was quick to respond “Capitalism may call itself democratic, but that does not mean that it truly is. If we don’t have control of our basic services like energy and water, then can we say that we live in a true democracy? If not, then we need to fight for it”