How to Start

① How to Start ❯

② Energy Democracy in Action ❯

③ Know Your Rights ❯

④ Municipal Deep Dives ❯

⑤ Glossary ❯

The Start

Find Your Entry Point

Map the System

Enter the System

Strategic Framing

Make an Ask

Map the system

Understand how the system works

Tap any part of the system to see how it connects to the others.

Community
Community organisations, labour groups, small businesses and co-ops, and climate and housing groups. Together, you are the starting point. A collective voice is harder to ignore.
How it connects: Communities have a right to take part. Municipalities must build a culture of participation in planning, budgets and service delivery (Municipal Systems Act, s16–17). That participation happens through IDP consultations, energy strategy processes, public platforms and advisory groups.
Municipality
Show that energy is explicitly included in municipal strategy, and that distributed energy is part of planned energy futures. Identify where municipalities are already engaged in renewable energy planning and development, then link these to constitutional rights to build engagement strategies for communities.
How it connects: Look in the IDP, municipal energy action plans and the budget. Ask: who manages energy in the municipality? Is there an Energy Office? Are there renewable energy targets? What projects already exist?
Policy
Every law must be consistent with the level above it: the Constitution, then national Acts, regulations, policies, strategies and, finally, local plans. Municipal documents may not explicitly state “rights to energy”, but these rights can still derive from constitutional and statutory law.
How it connects: Policy sets what municipalities must do and what communities can claim. Can municipal plans be strengthened to support community energy rights? Investigate legal avenues to push for stronger rights within local governance frameworks.
Grid
The network that carries electricity to homes and businesses. The Electricity Regulation Act grants distribution licences, and creates space for small-scale embedded generation (rooftop solar and similar systems) and wheeling (trading electricity across a municipal network).
How it connects: Distributed energy, such as rooftop solar or a microgrid that connects to the main grid or runs on its own, is how community projects plug into the system. That’s why it matters that distributed energy is part of the municipality’s planned energy future.

Six steps to map your system

  • 1

    Who to include
    Community organisations, labour groups, small businesses / co-ops, climate & housing groups.

  • 2

    Map institutions & governance
    Create a map of institutions relevant to your cause and to energy governance.

  • 3

    Know the tools
    Important tools, such as feasibility tools, are necessary for assessing energy projects.

  • 4

    Organise
    A collective voice is harder to ignore.

  • 5

    Know your rights
    Explore constitutional rights and identify local hooks for engagement with municipalities.

  • 6

    Find the power
    Who controls decisions?

Questions to ask

  • Who manages energy in the municipality?

  • Is there an Energy Office?

  • Are there renewable energy targets?

  • What projects already exist?

Key Message

Knowledge = power. The more you understand the system, the stronger your position.

Can municipal plans be strengthened to support community energy rights? Investigate legal avenues to push for stronger rights within local governance frameworks.