Youth initiatives in the energy transition – new stakeholder arising or untapped potential?

Young people are at the heart of the energy transition, both as the generation that will experience its full impact, but also, more and more evidently, as a group whose active participation is crucial to making the transition happen. While youth engagement is essential for a just and effective transition, current policies often overlook young energy consumers. Across Europe, bottom-up initiatives demonstrate innovative ways to involve youth, proving that they are not merely future stakeholders but active participants today. However, barriers such as financial constraints and exclusion from energy policies remain. How can we ensure that young people are not left behind but empowered and hence willing to engage and to drive the energy transition? 

Youth as a vulnerable consumer group in the energy transition 

Young people face a unique set of challenges in accessing affordable and sustainable energy. As highlighted by the European Youth Energy Network (EYEN), youth are often financially constrained, with many earning modest incomes while living in rented housing that lack energy efficiency measures​. Despite being disproportionately affected by energy poverty, youth are not officially recognised as a vulnerable consumer group in EU and most EU countries energy policy​. Moreover, one of the key barriers to youth participation in sustainable energy solutions are the financial thresholds. Due to the legal and economic realities in some EU countries, young people often struggle to meet the initial investment requirements to become members of energy communities​. Without targeted financial support, such as grants or preferential loans, youth remain excluded from initiatives that could help them reduce energy costs and actively participate in the clean energy transition.

Beyond financial limitations, structural issues – such as the landlord-tenant dilemma – further restrict young people's ability to benefit from energy efficiency improvements. Since many young consumers rent their homes, they have little control over energy upgrades, while landlords have limited incentives to make investments that primarily benefit tenants​. Addressing these barriers requires recognising youth as a vulnerable consumer group and tailoring policy interventions accordingly. 

Best practices: how youth are already driving the energy transition  

Despite these challenges, youth-led and youth-inclusive initiatives across Europe demonstrate the potential of young people to shape the energy transition. Through its on-the-ground research, our task force has documented several best practices that highlight how young people are engaging in the sector.  

For example, in Greece, the Electra Energy Cooperative supports energy communities by providing legal and technical assistance. While not exclusively targeting young people, it has seen high youth participation due to their interest in tackling climate change. However, financial barriers remain a challenge, with required investments ranging from €1,500 to €3,500​.  

In Poland, the CoopTech Hub, a cooperative startup, helps establish energy communities by providing regulatory guidance and business model support. However, restrictive national policies make it difficult for young people to participate fully, as many energy cooperatives are limited to serving only their own members​. The initiative uses social media tools for campaigning so as to attract a wide range of consumers​.

Another key aspect of alleviating the energy poverty is enhancing the energy efficiency of residential buildings. Here, the nonprofit organisation Just a Change (Portugal)  renovates homes for people living in energy poverty, with a strong focus on youth engagement. Each year, it mobilises around 2,000 young volunteers to work on housing improvements, raising awareness of energy poverty while providing hands-on solutions. By involving youth directly, Just a Change strengthens community resilience and demonstrates the role young people can play in tackling energy poverty.  

These examples highlight that, where financial and regulatory barriers are addressed, young people are eager and capable of leading energy transition initiatives. 

Policy recommendations: enabling youth as key energy stakeholders 

To unlock the full potential of young people in the energy transition, policymakers must implement targeted measures that remove barriers and actively involve youth in decision-making. The Young Energy Consumers Task Force proposes the following set of policy recommendations​: 

1. Recognise youth as a vulnerable consumer group in energy policies, ensuring that financial and structural barriers are addressed;
2. Expand financial support mechanisms such as targeted subsidies, grants for young renters, and easier access to energy community memberships;
3. Ensure youth representation in decision-making at local, national, and EU levels, integrating their perspectives into energy policies;
4. Promote inclusive energy communities by removing financial entry barriers and supporting youth engagement in cooperative models;
5. Enhance education and outreach efforts to equip young people with the skills and knowledge needed to participate in the energy transition. 

As the European Commission sets its agenda for the coming years, it must recognise that youth are not just future energy consumers, they are already shaping the transition. Investing in their inclusion today is essential for ensuring a just, effective, and truly participatory energy transition, minimising the social backlash, usually resulting from a feeling of not being understood and not being included.

Recommended links  

1. Young Energy Consumers — EYEN's key task force
2. Energy Poverty Advisory Hub
3. REScoop.eu, the European federation of energy communities

About the author  

Halina Jagielska is the manager of the Young Energy Consumers (YEC) Task Force. It is a project of the European Youth Energy Network (EYEN), launched in April 2023 to enhance the visibility of young energy consumers in the EU policies. The Task Force conducts qualitative and quantitative research, building a knowledge database on the experiences and challenges of young energy consumers and on-the-ground initiatives focused on alleviating the energy poverty across Europe. Its goal is to produce robust, evidence-based materials that support more inclusive policies in the energy sector and propose the tools and methods to activate youth in the energy transition. In addition to policy research, the Task Force recurrently participates in policy events, including those organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH), and the Citizens’ Energy Forum of the European Commission, where it was featured as a panel speaker in 2023. 

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