Why the “CER” of Magliano Alpi

The technology allows to define innovative models of energy management. European legislation aims at the centrality of the consumer / producer citizen (prosumer), who must be guaranteed more equitable and sustainable access to the electricity market. At the heart of this evolution are the “ Energy Communities ”: Today there are different definitions of the Energy Community, each with its own history and with different legislative and regulatory references, within an evolving regulatory framework. The objective of this entity, beyond the terms used, is: to allow citizens to create innovative forms of aggregation and governance in the energy field to create benefits for individuals and the community – both economic and quality of life – and to provide services on the territory.

Community means above all the ability to aggregate at the local level, with a logic that favors people and territories, which claim a role in creating value through innovation in the way energy is generated, consumed and managed: the role of the municipalities is central , especially in Italy, whose administrative fragmentation in this case is a value because it facilitates communication and involvement of citizens thanks to the proximity between voters and elected representatives.

In November 2016, the European Commission presented a package of proposals, called “ Clean Energy for all Europeans Package ”(CEP), with the intention of contributing to fulfill the commitments undertaken by the EU with the Paris Agreement. The proposal led to the adoption of eight legislative acts, which took place between 2018 and the first half of 2019, with which the European Union reformed its framework for energy policy. The Directives 2018/2001 (which introduces the “ Renewable Energy Community “) is 944/2019 (which defines the “ Citizens’ Energy Communities “), Which are being transposed by the Member States.

Since this is a real paradigm change – with significant advantages for end users – the evolution must necessarily take place in successive steps and in the face of strategic and policy choices by the regulatory authorities and the States. Possible evolutionary scenarios must be analyzed with scientific rigor, carrying out experiments and verifications in pilot sites. The Municipality of Magliano Alpi is “complex enough” to ensure the significance of the results, but with characteristics of territorial limitation and governability and able to operate as local ecosystem voted to operate as catalyst for change with a view to technological and organizational replicability.

Within the new paradigm for energy management, buildings (public, residential, corporate) represent a key element: energy efficiency associated with self-production systems of electricity makes the flow of energy between the building and the grid bidirectional local.

The aggregation of buildings within a territorial area can therefore enable investment thresholds of interest for private investors. Bringing together groups or single buildings of a community with innovative (smart) criteria enables them to become “nodes” of an “energy community”, making possible new and profitable economic and financial processes.

The Municipality of Magliano Alpi has included in its own Single Programming Document ( DUP ) the development of innovative models of territorial development based on energy, with the aim of combining the advantages of the Superbonus with the incentives for Renewable Energy Communities.

The Municipality of Magliano Alpi represents a territorial context with surface characteristics and complexity that make it ideal for experimenting with new organizational and governance models capable of enhancing the opportunities offered by technology and European-derived legislation in the field of renewable energy.

The Municipality has also joined the “Manifesto of the Energy Communities for an active centrality of the Citizen in the new energy market”, promoted by the Energy Center of the Polytechnic of Turin, entering into active synergy with a pole of excellence in the world of research on the topics described above.

Thanks to the incentives already available today for the private sector in the energy field, it is possible to create replicable local projects with added value, favoring their aggregation and creating initiatives that exceed the dimensional thresholds of interest for “large” investors (typically a few dozen million euros).

Municipalities, thanks to a responsible use of the resources made available by the State for the Transition in the period 2021-2023, can acquire enabling technologies and facilitate the aggregation of Renewable Energy Communities, operating as innovation catalysts for their territories.

The Municipality of Magliano Alpi therefore proposes itself as “Pilot Territory ”Where they can be effectively tested new business models is new financial products , according to a “bottom-up” approach that starts from the systematic enhancement of the opportunities offered by this post-pandemic moment in which it is imperative to ride the change with courage and determination.