Social and institutionnal dimensions of energy transition : case study of French AMEP

Renewable energy production has been undergoing institutionalization in Europe for the past decade under the banner of ‘energy communities' (Lowitzsch, 2019 ; Hanke and al., 2022). This encompasses a variety of socio-productive models ranging from participatory housing to individual or collective self-consumption (CSC) operations, including consumer cooperatives and citizen cooperatives (Wokuri, 2021 ; Debizet and al., 2022). International and multidisciplinary literature on these topics reflects the diversity of these models, both in terms of what motivates them and their organization and impacts: territorial interrelationships, governance, support for stakeholders, the role of prosumers, transformative capacity and integration into social and ecological transition (Pappalardo, 2021). In France, projects that fit into these dynamics can be broadly divided into two categories: citizen energy cooperatives on the one hand and CSC operations on the other (Lormeteau, 2024). Beyond their specific characteristics, the primary objective of energy production and supply in these projects, whether in energy communities or for self-consumption, is not to make a profit, but to provide collective environmental, economic and social solutions to current energy challenges. This solidarity-based and ecological dynamic, marked by the current institutional context, is notably behind the creation of community-supported energy called Associations pour la Mutualisation d'une Énergie de Proximité (AMEP) in France, presented by their protagonists as community-supported agriculture (AMAP) for energy. This model, which was launched in 2022 in the Bouches-du-Rhône region, consists of connecting neighbours who consume and produce electricity to create a short renewable energy circuit. In France, there are currently around twenty AMEP in operation. In that they express alternative visions of the future, the new rules and practices promoted by AMEP aim to overcome technical constraints in order to enable political and productive projects to coexist (Chronis and al., 2021). This paper proposes to study these organizations by focusing, on the one hand, on their critical function with regard to the dominant economic and institutional dynamics within their reference sector (Lamarche and al., 2023) and, on the other hand, the political work of their promoters in constructing alternative modes of energy production and consumption (Smith, 2019). With this in mind, the paper draws on available grey and academic literature, an analysis of current market and institutional developments, and an ongoing research conducted with the AMEP network and the various AMEP in operation in France (observations and semi-structured interviews). References Chronis, A.-G., F. Palaiogiannis, I. Kouveliotis-Lysikatos, P. Kotsampopoulos, N. Hatziargyriou (2021). Photovoltaics enabling sustainable energy communities : technological drivers and emerging markets. Energies, vol.14, n°1862, 21p. Debizet G., M. Pappalardo and F. Wurtz (dir.) (2022), Local energy communities. Emergence, places, organizations, decision tools, Abingdon, Oxon, Roundledge, 349p. Hanke F., R. Guyet R. and M. Feenstra (2022). 12 – Energy communities' social role in a just energy transition. In S. Löbbe, F. Sioshansi and D. Robinson (dir.), Energy communities, Customer-Centered, Market Driven, Welfare-Enhancing ?, Academic Press, Elsevier, pp. 195- 208. Lamarche T. and N. Richez-Battesti (2023). Produire est politique : les coopératives, levier de transformation, Revue de la régulation, n°34. Lormeteau B. (2024). The spread of the "prosumer" in European and French law: the structuring of energy communities, IAEE Forum, vol. 48, Hors-Série n°22, pp. 371-378. Lowitzsch J. (dir.) (2019). Energy transition financing consumer co-ownership in renewables, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham, 794p. Pappalardo M. (2021). Un webinaire international sur les communautés énergétiques : débats et recherches, de l'université à la société, Flux, n°126, pp. 77-91. Smith A. (2019). Travail politique et changement institutionnel : une grille d'analyse, Sociologie du travail, n°61, sans pagination. Wokuri P. (2021). Community Energy in the United Kingdom : beyond or between the Market and the State ? Revue française de civilisation britannique [Online], vol. 2, n° XXVI, pp. 27-57.