46
Today’s accountability crisis revolves around the ownership and control
of the city’s energy systems. The renewal of the concession agreements for
the electricity grid and gas network in 2014 provided a window of opportunity for the two grassroots initiatives—the Berlin Energy Roundtable
and Citizen Energy Berlin—to challenge the position of the incumbent
utilities: Vattenfall and Gasag. Whilst the Roundtable has campaigned for
the city to take over the electricity concession in one form or another, the
cooperative has sought to take it on itself in partnership with others. A
very public contestation has emerged between Vattenfall and its opponents over the future of Berlin’s power grid. Vattenfall has argued that
only it possesses the experience and expertise necessary to run a complex
electricity system. The civil society organisations have countered that only
an accountable municipal utility can deliver on policy targets for renewable energy and decarbonisation. The dispute landed in the courts and was
only resolved—in favour of the new municipal utility Berlin Energie—in
March 2019 (Fig. 4.3).
Fig. 4.2 Protest camp against the planned power plant in Spandau Forest, 1976.
(Source: Landesarchiv Berlin, F Rep 290, No. 0194-662)
T. MOSS
Today’s accountability crisis revolves around the ownership and control
of the city’s energy systems. The renewal of the concession agreements for
the electricity grid and gas network in 2014 provided a window of opportunity for the two grassroots initiatives—the Berlin Energy Roundtable
and Citizen Energy Berlin—to challenge the position of the incumbent
utilities: Vattenfall and Gasag. Whilst the Roundtable has campaigned for
the city to take over the electricity concession in one form or another, the
cooperative has sought to take it on itself in partnership with others. A
very public contestation has emerged between Vattenfall and its opponents over the future of Berlin’s power grid. Vattenfall has argued that
only it possesses the experience and expertise necessary to run a complex
electricity system. The civil society organisations have countered that only
an accountable municipal utility can deliver on policy targets for renewable energy and decarbonisation. The dispute landed in the courts and was
only resolved—in favour of the new municipal utility Berlin Energie—in
March 2019 (Fig. 4.3).
Fig. 4.2 Protest camp against the planned power plant in Spandau Forest, 1976.
(Source: Landesarchiv Berlin, F Rep 290, No. 0194-662)
T. MOSS