Chapter 1

Power to the People—Germany

Ursula Sladek is a founder of Elektrizitätswerke Schönau (EWS), one of the largest eco-electricity providers in Europe, and the largest that is run by citizens. EWS's aim to decentralize and democratize the energy supply makes it the nucleus of a continuously expanding national network of independent power generators utilizing a range of technologies.

ONE OF THE CHURCHES IN SCHÖNAU, A SMALL TOWN OF 2,500 inhabitants deep in the Black Forest region of Germany, has a very high tower. If you climb up and look out over the town at the right time of day, all you see are hundreds of solar panels reflecting the light and winking back at you. You can almost feel them blinking, “We did it, we did it. We broke the power monopoly. We are our own power source, we are the source of light in the Black Forest.”