Opinion piece warns Portugal confuses energy communities with collective self-consumption

In an opinion article, Carla Castelo of Coopérnico argues that Portuguese law clearly distinguishes Renewable Energy Communities (CER) and Citizen Energy Communities (CCE) from Collective Self-Consumption (ACC), yet media and companies increasingly label any decentralised project an "energy community". She stresses the difference is not just legal but democratic: true communities involve member decision-making, while ACC schemes, often run by private firms, only offer lower bills. Portugal has over a thousand ACC projects but only a handful of citizen-based CER, such as Telheiras, Culatra and Comenda. She calls for clearer information, funding and administrative support to help genuine communities grow.