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{{cquote|Energy as a commons? With paradigms new markets and opportunities arising with digitalising in the energy sector and democratising means of production and distribution, how can regulation be designed in such a way that energy systems these markets are equitable and ensure participation across society?}}
The committee Committee on regional Regional development in Heidelberg will focus on the power shift from centralised to decentralised distribution systems. With EU citizens' growing awareness of environmental issues, new technological developments and smart power grids on the horizon, a shift towards a distributed system that includes consumers and turns them into co-producers is a possible future for Europe's energy union.There are many challenges that have to be met before such a transfer can take place: The liberalisation of the energy market is still not fully implemented and little few investments are in place to fund distributed systems. Many citizens seem to be "energy illiterate". Moreover, the data recorded through power grids raises questions concerning data storage and protection. Finally, and there is currently no strategy on who would regulate a European-wide power grid and how.Finally, many citizens seem to be “energy illiterate”, lacking the necessary knowledge to participate in a new decentralised system. To overcome these obstacles and ensure a bright future for distributed systems in the energy union is what REGI will cover in committee work and resolution.
== The Past: Distributing energy the traditional way ==
* More and more people are installing solar panels on their own
== The Present: Obstacles to be addressed ==
=== The environmental dimension ===
* do renewable means of energy really push smart grids?
== The Future: Smart grids - an outlook to what is possible ==
=== The economic dimension ===
* more efficiency through smart grids
* flexibility through information of residential energy use
* intelligent and flexible grids instead of linear distribution
=== The societal dimension ===
* consumers become co-producers
* "energy literacy" goes up
* decentralisation through empowerment of citizens
=== The technological dimension ===
* both electricity and information are exchanged
* ensuring interoperability in smart power grids
* reporting energy usage to increase efficiency
=== The environmental dimension ===
* pushing decarbonisation
* Consumers more likely to install renewable sources of energy (e.g. solar panels)
* consumers have a greater influence on the amount of renewable energy used in Europe
== The Actors: Who is involved ==