Collective electricity self-consumption in France: the emergence of a thwarted innovation
François-Mathieu Poupeau, Blanche Lormeteau
In collaboration with Roberta Pistoni, Gaëtan Brisepierre, Lola Dornier, Nicolas Hernigou, and Mathilde Marchand
Presses des Mines, 2024, 324 p.
Collective electricity self-consumption (ACCE) was introduced in France by the 2015 Energy Transition for Green Growth Act (TECV). As part of a general movement to restructure energy systems, this new mechanism, which consists of connecting consumers to one or more producers via the public electricity distribution network, responds to several types of expectations: contributing to the development of renewable energies, responding to citizens' aspirations to produce and consume locally (the concept of "short supply chains"), encouraging individuals to become more aware of the challenges of energy efficiency and conservation, etc. Driven by these various motivations, the ACCE has since spread and is now part of the range of mechanisms that local project leaders can mobilize. The aim of this book is to report on the dynamics behind the emergence of this new public policy tool, by articulating two levels of analysis: national on the one hand (changes in the regulatory framework between 2015 and 2022, under the influence of sometimes complex interactions between actors), and local on the other (study of five operations). The result of interdisciplinary work, the study shows that the "promise" of the ACCE (to work towards more decentralized energy management) has never really been fulfilled, as this mechanism has gradually been stripped of its transformative potential to become an instrument that continues the historical forms of regulation in the electricity sector, marked by a strong centralism.
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