Local Socio-Economic Development through Community-Based Distributed Energy Resources

Distributed energy resources (DERs) represent opportunities to increase the use of renewable energy while enabling local socio-economic activities. This paper presents some of the social considerations related to DERs, in particular regarding the transformation of users from passive consumers to active energy actors. The interactions and work from engineering and social science students, as well as meetings with community leaders were used to develop recommendations to improve community-based DER initiatives in support of sustainability and resiliency. An emphasis on sense of community, social capital and empowerment were identified as essential aspects for the success of a community-based project. A framework that emphasizes human behavior within the environment (natural and social) was suggested to guide community DER efforts, both within the community and also to deal with external factors such as government policies and social misconceptions.