Exploring Values of Energy Justice: A Case Study of a Burgeoning Energy Community

We increasingly see local community energy initiatives unfold to support sustainable energy transitions. The notion of energy communities may aid these initiatives as HCI researchers, practitioners, and political organizations argue for their potential benefits. However, envisionments of energy communities carry assumed expectations of a just energy future for community members. This paper presents a case study of a burgeoning energy community where diverse stakeholders reflect on their expectations of a newly established Danish energy cooperative. Through a value-sensitive design study, we identify ten values reflecting social-technical expectations of how the community may be organized and supported by technology in the future. We structure the values into three tenets of energy justice to discuss value tensions regarding the; i) distribution of energy community benefits and threats, ii) enabling energy community engagement, and iii) recognizing the energy community. Lastly, we discuss how HCI may steer technology design toward a just energy future.