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The production and consumption of energy account for more than 75% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, decarbonising the EU’s energy system is a crucial step to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Recent legislation, most notably the Clean Energy Package, aims to accelerate the transition of the energy sector to renewable energy sources. One of the pillars of the EU’s approach to the decarbonisation of the energy sector is consumers’ participation. This is due to energy decentralisation, which is shifting the traditional concept of citizens-as-consumers to energy citizenship. Energy citizenship is a term used to indicate that citizens can actively engage, as individuals or larger collectives, in activities that contribute to the promotion of sustainable energy.

The EU legislation encourages consumers’ active participation in the energy transition in different ways, including, for example, renewable energy communities and demand response schemes. The former are legal not-for-profit entities that can be established by private persons, municipalities or small and medium-sized enterprises to jointly carry out activities such as energy generation, consumption or storage. The latter is a demand-side management tool that provides an opportunity for consumers to play a role in balancing the electric grid by reducing or shifting their electricity usage during peak times. Demand response programs allow consumers to reduce their energy bills and facilitate the penetration of renewable energy sources.