Valencia empowers citizens to participate in the energy transition

Corentin Girard of the Clima i Energia Foundation shares how the local government of Valencia is working toward its net-zero targets by actively engaging citizens in the energy transition.

If the energy transition is to succeed, it requires the buy-in and participation from citizens. Without it, there is no way a city like Valencia can meet its net-zero goals by 2030.

However, getting citizens involved is easier said than done, not least because for the past few decades they have been regarded as passive energy consumers.

Corentin Girard, the energy area coordinator for Clima i Energia, believes that the government can be an important player in improving this.

“At some point, people took the decision to make a library a fire station or social services because it was not profitable, so it was public. Now we are in a place in the transition where if we want the transition to happen at the local level, we need to have people on the ground,” says Girard during a visit of Enlit on the Road to the energy office in Valencia.

“To improve the transition at the city level, we need to fill a gap, which is the services of training and education that are not profitable, for instance, for the private sector.”

This is why the city council of Valencia founded the Clima i Energia Foundation in 2011.

“We are in charge of translating this big carbon reduction target to the people,” explains Girard. And that begins with answering simple questions like ‘How can I save on my energy bill?’ or ‘What can I do if I can’t pay my bill at the end of the month?’

“We start with this, and then afterwards we can talk about the energy transition and carbon reduction,” says Girard.

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One-stop shop

To facilitate these conversations, the foundation opened a ‘one-stop shop’ office in 2019 where people can walk in with all their burning questions and get information or advice.

“What we are trying to do is not tell people what they have to do, but to give them tools to empower them to make things happen.”

This can benefit consumers directly. “We usually say that someone passing by the office to check their energy bill will save €200 per year. And if it’s a vulnerable household, as you have social tariffs, it could be up to €400 per year,” says Girard

However, the empowerment of citizens doesn’t only benefit consumers or the government. Girard highlights that it can also help the private sector.

“We train and inform people so they get more mature in the future as a consumer for the private sector as well. If they come here, they are informed about solar panels... and then they can go and start their transition journey because they know really what they want and what they need.

“We collaborate with architects, with construction workers, with all the different actors of the private sector, their final customers are our users.”

Valencia floods

The proactive approach of Clima i Energia is paying off, with their office reaching more than 10,000 people in 2024.

However, the first-hand experience of the extreme floods that hit Valencia in October 2024 has significantly impacted the foundation’s work.

“Last autumn's flood was a tragedy in our local context,” says Girard. He notices a clear ‘before’ and ‘after’ in the training and conversations about climate change and energy transition.

“Before, basically people were saying: ‘Yeah, it's something that will happen or that could happen to people in other places’. But now, it's something that happened in your street with your family or friends.”

While Girard is positive about the focus on a green reconstruction, he stresses that they “have to keep pushing for the energy transition”.

“We still have to remember that the best way to adapt is to mitigate first.”