The energy cooperative as a tool for reducing energy poverty and supporting the social regeneration process

Energy poverty is a social and economic problem faced by countries around the world. Governments in various countries and regions are creating economic support mechanisms and setting up institutions to help social groups or households that need it most. However, a review of international solutions has failed to find effective proposals that would reduce energy poverty in a systemic, cost-effective (economically profitable) manner. The authors therefore decided to address the possibility of reducing energy poverty in terms of: (I) the use of existing institutions that support prosumer association locally (it was focused on energy cooperatives), and (II) the use of optimization models taking into account actual data of energy producers and consumers. The study takes the form of sensitivity analysis and is based on the institutional and legal framework in Poland. The research works presented demonstrate an innovative mechanism for fighting energy poverty that has not yet been studied or described. It assumes the allocation of a portion of the energy produced from photovoltaic sources belonging to an energy cooperative, in which one of the members is a local government unit, to cover the dedicated needs of electricity demand. The beneficiaries of such a solution would comprise households in the area of the local administration affected by energy poverty. A self-scalable model for developing and supporting an increasing number of entities was achieved, so that we can talk about new solution to mitigate the problem of energy poverty and sustainable social regeneration on a scale larger than just local. • involvement of local authorities in relieving energy cooperative members of energy poverty. • energy cooperatives with a net-metering model as self-financing tools for energy poverty mitigation. • integrative optimization for an optimal energy cooperative structure. • the role of the energy cooperatives in the social revitalization process beyond the local scale.