Paper short abstract:

Communities affected by RE projects have extensively raised environmental and justice issues and denounced bad practices and crimes. We analyse conflicts and diverging valuation languages around RE projects built and operated by one of the biggest energy companies in Europe, the ENEL Group.

Paper long abstract:

As policies in favour of renewable energy (RE) expand worldwide, energy companies increase their investments in the sector. Their narratives for the energy transitions call for ¨creating a shared value¨ to fight climate change and “open power” for all stakeholders.

However, current policies for the energy transition trigger urgent questions about what values count, who controls and decides, and who defines the solutions in the energy transition. Communities affected by RE projects have extensively raised environmental and justice issues and denounced bad practices and crimes.

In this article, we analyse 15 cases of socio-environmental conflicts and the valuation languages of impacted communities opposing RE projects built and operated by one of the biggest energy companies in Europe, the ENEL Group.

This article builds on the concept of valuation languages developed in Ecological Economics and discusses how values are being framed and defended by impacted communities vs the way the energy company claim the creation of “value” can be a shared and consensual process.

We argue that while the company narrative seeks to build consensus practices around a common value of progress, development and growth, local opposition to RE projects aims to defend a plurality of ‘values’. The results problematise the way the energy transition is being framed and promoted by large corporations and central governments but also shed light on what diverse energy models and practices can look like to meet people’s needs and respect ecosystems.