Classifying Energy Community Members via the Diffusion of Innovations Framework

In this session, Christine Hedde-von Westernhagen, visiting research at Utrecht University and a member of the Sustainable Behaviour group at Utrecht University, will present her ongoing work on energy communities and welcome input from the group to formulate the next steps.

Energy communities (ECs) have gained increasing attention from scientists and policymakers for being a promising element in facilitating the energy transition. While prior research has directed much attention towards distinguishing community members from non-members, far less is known about member heterogeneities within communities. Gaining insight into these differences would enable a better understanding of the potential of ECs in transforming society at larger scales. Specifically, we draw on the Diffusion of Innovations framework to distinguish members who joined at different timepoints of an EC’s lifecycle with regards to their motivations of joining, sustainable attitudes and behavior, technology adoption, and community engagement. Based on survey data gathered in a Dutch energy community, we present first results of how the Diffusion of Innovations framework can help explain differences in attitudes and behavior among EC members.