Across the globe, people are reclaiming their electrical power. Communities are charting their own future by producing clean, renewable energy.
In Chad, people are putting solar panels on schools and small businesses where there is no electrical grid. In the Amazon, indigenous communities are using solar to stay independent from fossil fuel dependence. In South Africa, communities are planning transformations of old coal mines into shining solar fields that power homes and model a just transition away from fossil fuels.
Our Own Power is a network of people increasing our own power in our communities. We are rejecting the primary driver of the climate crisis: the fossil fuel industry. Instead, we are redesigning structures and turning to community-driven solutions. Join the movement!
The road to Our Own Power is not always easy. It takes time to build connections in many of our communities. There are technical and financial challenges — the tips in this booklet can help. And there may be national or local regulation that cannot be overcome by a single community effort. Like in Turkey, cooperatives preparing to build out solar projects found burdensome regulatory hurdles. So they are tackling not only the task of building a community plan but also bigger policy battles. Find other allies and network on the Our Own Power website.
Creating these community energy projects has huge benefits. Communities get cheaper, stable electricity. Projects generate positive health impacts — reducing pollution from diesel generators or coal-fired power plants. The community is stronger, more educated, and grows in its sense of pride.
Providing a direct service that benefits your community can speak louder than any rhetorical argument. This can build lasting public support for more substantive changes for a low-carbon energy landscape against fossil fuels and pro-new renewable energy projects.
And this is why we do this together. Our Own Power is a network of people working on this together. Our local scale may not be big enough to change the entire world’s energy systems on our own, but as a global group we are a force to be reckoned with.
You can contribute to overcoming energy poverty, stabilising electrical prices, reducing pollution, fighting climate change, and bringing your community together for a project they can be proud of —
If that sounds like a good plan, then read on and join Our Own Power!
“As they go lower and lower, we need to shoot higher and higher.”
– Naomi Klein, No Is Not Enough: Defeating the New Shock Politics
We hope this inspires and supports you to build your own local renewable energy projects. You can do it — but it’s hard work! The toolkit is divided into different phases to implement community-led renewable energy projects. You can start at any of the phases, depending on where you are.
