Chapter 9 Community Benefits Agreements for Renewable Energy Development on Contaminated Land
The Sustainable Energy Democracy Route
In: Sustainable Energy Democracy and the LawSearch for other papers by Achinthi Vithanage in
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Abstract
Community-based solutions are increasingly advanced in the energy space for their conduciveness to equitable development and energy democracy. Community Benefits Agreements (cbas) are a community-based solution for distributive and procedural justice, which, reimagined through a sustainable energy democracy lens, are well placed to guide communities towards an equitable energy transition. They constitute legally enforceable contracts between a developer and a community entailing the exchange of benefits in return for cooperation. They have featured in renewable energy development projects, giving communities greater power in terms of their energy choices and in the negotiation of broadly distributed benefits. Notwithstanding the climate change benefits, environmental advocates criticize the use of ‘green’ spaces for such development. Accordingly, renewable energy development on contaminated land such as landfills, has emerged as a trend in the US. Although cbas are yet to feature in this context, ‘community solar’, a shared ownership structure for solar energy provision that shares elements with cbas, has emerged and offers lessons for broader consideration.
This chapter first introduces the cba concept, delving into its history and development and unpacking its ties to sustainable energy democracy. It then describes variations of cbas, focusing on the roles of developer, community, and government in cba negotiations, before examining the challenges they present. The chapter subsequently turns to the growth of sustainable energy development on contaminated land in the US and the opportunity for cbas in this context. After giving a brief overview of federal initiatives promoting such development, the chapter identifies elements for a cba model based on the sustainable energy democracy concept, highlighting the importance of energy justice, the second pillar of sustainable energy democracy, in ensuring just transformation of contaminated land. The chapter concludes that transitioning contaminated land to renewable energy projects through cbas that adhere to the sustainable energy democracy legal objective is a replicable model for global application.