In an article for HIGGS, Alexandros Koutras, Financial Project Manager at Electra Energy Cooperative, shares the organisation’s experience from its ten years of operation. Electra Energy is a Social Cooperative Enterprise (KoinSEp) whose aim is for every local community to be able to produce renewable energy cheaply and locally. To achieve this, it develops projects, carries out advocacy, education and action research, and promotes energy communities as a key tool of the energy transition.
Why not direct state funding
The organisation has made a deliberate choice to rely mainly on European programmes and to avoid direct public funding. The reasoning, as the author describes it, is that an organisation that criticises regulators and ministries cannot depend on them financially. This does not mean rejecting all public resources. Programmes with transparent competitive evaluation, such as support for Social and Solidarity Economy bodies through the NSRF (ESPA), are considered acceptable. The Netherlands and France are cited as examples abroad, where energy communities receive operating grants.
Funding sources and competitive advantage
Electra Energy relies on European programmes such as Horizon and LIFE, and occasionally on private foundations such as the Onassis and Bodossaki Foundations. Through these projects it carries out field research and pilots, sets up energy communities and trains citizens. EU funds partly cover operating costs, but rarely enough.
According to the author, the organisation’s advantage is that it works on two levels at once. On one side, it takes part in consultations and meetings with institutional bodies. On the other, it stays close to citizens, municipalities and networks such as DESMI. This combination, together with practical tools such as energy poverty indicators and guides for setting up energy communities, makes it an attractive partner in European consortia.
Freedom with an asterisk
The author also points out the limits of this model. Dependence on EU resources leaves the organisation exposed to shifting priorities, such as the proposed discontinuation of the LIFE programme in the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework. In addition, competitive projects set their own themes and deliverables. As a result, important issues not covered by calls for proposals remain unaddressed.
As a way forward, he proposes more flexible operating grants that support an organisation’s overall functioning rather than only specific deliverables. He also calls for a change in the state’s attitude towards NGOs and social economy organisations.
Read the full article (in Greek) on HIGGS