Andrew Cumbers University of Glasgow Paper for ‘Solidarity Economy North and South’ seminar University of Liverpool, 14 th - 15 th March 2012.

Andrew CumbersUniversity of Glasgow

Paper for ‘Solidarity Economy North and South’ seminar University of Liverpool, 14th - 15th

March 2012

Introduction

Denmark as a renewables’ success story:

‘Denmark’s emergence as a leader in the renewable energy sector represents a remarkable transformation. Despite lacking almost entirely in hydroelectric resources and without the strong biomass tradition of its Scandinavian neighbours, the government has used policies to build up one of the biggest renewable energy sectors in the world.’ (IEA 2006, p. 9)

- 20,000 jobs- 50% of world market in wind turbine manufacture

Success driven by set of economic governance arrangements which fly in face of neoliberal orthodoxy decentred model of public ownership –

cooperatives + municipal ownership framed by national state institutional

mechanisms progressive forms of economic governance

working across scales

From oil dependence to renewables role model1970s struggle over energy policy between

nuclear lobby and green-radical-rural coalitionvictory for progressive coalition and shift

towards renewables in national energy strategy1979 – 2000 massive shift towards renewables

28% of elec generation, 19% total energy consumption

Energy consumption unchanged despite 78% growth in GDP

Decentred public ownership and institutional supporting frameworkGovt subsidy of 30% on all new wind power

investment from 1980 – 1990‘Energipakken’ – forcing electricity distribution

companies to take quotas of renewable linked to rising targets Feed-in-tariff (FIT) guaranteed price – 84% of costs

for green energy from 1993Support for local and collective ownership

Distance regulation + consumption laws Growth of coops = 84% of turbine ownership, 12% of

population Growth of democratic associations – Danish Wind

Turbine Owners Assoc.

‘The wind-power revolution has revived the cooperative ownership model used in Denmark around 1900, when local dairies and Poul la Cour’s ‘rural power stations’ were established. Cooperative members all over the country were the grassroots activists with DV’s support, working hard to get permission to have their turbines erected.’

(Danish Wind Turbine Owners’ Association website at http://www.dkvind.dk/eng/publications/lacour_dv.pdf, last accessed

October 20, 2011).

Fusing of older traditions of mutualism and collectivism (e.g 1885 rural

technology law banning patents to ensure collective learning processes)

with modern progressive state project

‘Wind energy in Denmark generally enjoys a high public acceptance. One of the cornerstones for maintaining public acceptance on a national scale as well as in local areas with dense wind turbine development was ownership. Public regulation granted a proportion of the wind capacity to be erected by publicly owned utilities and more importantly, legislation stimulated the formation of local wind energy cooperatives with limited ownership of shares in wind turbine projects within residents’ municipalities.’ (Moller 2010, p.234)

Electricity already highly decentralised – distribution companies

local and regional cooperatives + municipal ownership

System does throw up conflicts, particularly between consumer and producer interests but: Encourages important associational culture

and deliberative engagement Membership in different associations which

permits more fluid collective identities Mitigates against: ‘tendency for one, and one

loyalty to devour all the others and various loyalties are now permitted to grow side by side’ (Neurath 1945, 429).

Growing tensions in Danish model in 1990s

Large scale v smaller localised projectsConsumer price concerns v producer market

growthGrowing influence of neoliberal market discourse

through EU Single Market (scrapping of FIT scheme)

Decline in new projects – no new onshore development since early 2000s

2001 – 2011 centre-right government with anti-environmental premier

Future directions Some offshore

developments New models of public

ownership Public-public partnerships

(e.g. Mittelgrunden wind farm)

New centre left government elected (2011) committed to expanding wind power and recovering Danish status as ‘renewable champion’

Conclusions

Inter-relationships between higher level institutional mechanisms and local grassroots actions in constructing more democratic and participatory economics

Battle between elites v grassroots in energy policy discourse

Links between public ownership, participation and dealing with climate change

More nuanced sense of recovering state and non-state forms of collective ownership

‘Today’s socialism has many intolerant traits […] Why could the peaceful movements for community-oriented economy not be united? Community economy, guild economy, social economy characterise certain periods, but they also exist side by side and give satisfaction to different types of human being.’ (Neurath [1920] 2003, p.402)