Community renewable energy promises to play an important role in reducing the generation and consumption of high carbon sources of power, as well as in demonstrating the viability of novel business models within a transformed energy system built on principles of locality and democracy. The paper argues, however, that community renewable energy, in England at least, remains marginal, undermined by changing government policies and underplayed institutional factors connected with technology and organisational legitimacy. The paper reports on interviews with 29 actors connected with community renewable energy in England. The analysis identifies themes implicating various types of legitimacy with the partial and uneven institutionalisation of community renewable energy. These are bound up with continuing and new institutional rules and the deployment of strategies for (de)legitimising community renewable energy, including associated technologies and organisational forms, adversely impacting on the potential contribution of community renewable energy to energy system transformation.

社区可再生能源有望在减少高碳动力源的产生和消耗中发挥重要作用，并在基于地方和民主原则的转型能源系统中证明新型商业模式的可行性。但是，该论文认为，至少在英格兰，社区可再生能源仍然处于边际状态，受到政府政策变化以及与技术和组织合法性相关的制度因素的淡化的影响。该论文报道了对与英格兰社区可再生能源相关的29位演员的采访。分析确定了与社区可再生能源的部分和不均衡的制度化相关的各种合法性的主题。