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The paper explores potential lock-ins on the pathways towards alternative, emerging configurations of decentralized energy systems that meet the need for a carbon neutral energy future. In our analysis we draw on four emerging ideal-type decentralization configurations or ‘energy futures’(individual-outward, individual-inward, collective-outward, collective-inward) and the institutional, actor and technological preconditions they require to become dominant forms of decentralization. We take a forward-looking approach and consider different lock-ins that may be created on the path towards the four decentralized futures and the implications for the sustainability of decentralized energy futures and for how such sustainability should be assessed. We conclude with an overview on the different effects such future lock-ins can have and explain the challenges of detecting them.