The energy transition requires the active involvement of local administrations to promote a more sustainable, efficient and participatory energy model. Aware of this challenge, the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM) has commissioned SAMSO to draft an exhaustive legal study that establishes the bases for municipal participation in energy communities.
This document, now available to all town councils, offers clear and applicable legal solutions to facilitate municipal leadership in shared renewable energy initiatives, guaranteeing legal certainty and optimization of public resources.
A legal study to facilitate municipal involvement
The promotion of energy communities represents a great opportunity for town councils, but also entails legal and administrative challenges. The study prepared by SAMSO offers a detailed analysis of the regulatory framework, providing practical solutions and models of administrative specifications so that municipalities can act safely and efficiently. Among the key aspects addressed, the following stand out:
- Legal figures available for municipal participation: Municipalities can get involved in energy communities as promoters, directly promoting them; as active members, being part of existing initiatives; or as facilitators, providing administrative and technical support without managing them directly.
- Applicable regulatory framework and legal certainty for municipalities: The study analyzes European, state and regional regulations, including the Public Sector Contracts Law, to determine how municipalities can legally participate in energy communities, ensuring regulatory compliance and minimizing risks.
- Administrative specifications models to simplify contracting: The report includes standard documents to facilitate administrative management, such as specifications for the transfer of municipal spaces, contracting of energy management services or creation of municipal companies to manage renewable energy projects.
- Public-private and public-community collaboration mechanisms: Different options are presented so that city councils can establish alliances with cooperatives, companies and citizens, promoting collaborative renewable energy projects through public, mixed or cooperative management formulas.
- Compatibility with municipal competencies and good practices: The study evaluates how participation in energy communities fits with local competencies in energy, urban planning and public services, highlighting good practices and success stories to help municipalities implement these initiatives with guarantees.
Presentation of the study at an ACM conference
With the aim of sharing these conclusions and providing specific tools to local governments, the ACM organized a technical conference where the study was presented and strategies for its implementation were discussed. The session allowed for the sharing of experiences and good practices in the creation of energy communities, underlining the importance of providing local entities with solid legal mechanisms to promote renewable energy projects and shared self-consumption.
SAMSO, alongside local governments in the energy transition
At SAMSO, we are specialists in legal and technical advice in energy transition, and we work to provide solutions that allow municipalities to lead the implementation of sustainable, efficient and socially fair energy models. With this study, we reaffirm our commitment to local administrations to facilitate their participation in energy communities with legal and operational guarantees.
📖 Consult the full study here: https://www.acm.cat/sites/default/files/manual_uploads/fundacio/ajuntaments_i_comunitats_energetiques_fmit.pdf
