Let communities decide: Using participatory budgeting for renewable energy community benefits packages
In 2023 the Ulupono Initiative in Hawai’i partnered with The USA based Participatory Budgeting Project to release a report, titled ‘Let communities decide: Using participatory budgeting for renewable energy community benefits packages.‘ It includes a detailed toolkit for how this exciting idea might be realised, and might it happen more in the UK too?
A participatory budgeting (PB) framework provides the opportunity for more inclusive conversations around community benefits as part of renewable energy projects, particularly for those communities most impacted by such projects. These benefits may include grants, sponsorships, educational and cultural initiatives, and more. PB can also bring transparency to spending decisions, with greater opportunity for communities to build relationships and trust with local government and developers.
“It’s not a question of whether Hawai‘i’s communities will or will not have a say in our state’s clean energy future — they will demand it,” said Leo Asuncion, chairperson of the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission, in the report’s introduction. “This report explores ‘participatory budgeting’ as a community-led approach to renewable energy community benefits … decided not solely by the developer or elected officials, but with full involvement of the communities affected by the development.”
PB and renewable energy schemes in the UK?
In the UK there are already some examples of the community benefit funding from wind energy projects being spent through Participatory Budgeting. A recent one would be in Scotland, where PB was used in Fife in 2024, with funding from the Benarty wind farm. It was also piloted in East Ayrshire as long ago as 2018, using money from their local Renewable Energy Fund (REF).
Given how contentious some renewable energy projects can become, PB could be a good way to ameliorate the negative effects of turbines on land or at sea.
And in 2025 NESCAN produced a report exploring why citizen participation mattered in renewable energy projects. It would be exciting to hear about more examples of PB with community benefit funding from renewable energy.
Read about the proposal and toolkit in Hawaii on the Ulupono Initiative’s website
Read how Benarty Wind Farm funding was spent through PB.