Big business or the local citizen? Who will reap the benefits of the energy transition in Maastricht? If the current plans of the municipality are continued, a massive blanket (+/- 50 football fields) of solar panels will appear over the fields north of the city in the coming years. In the council proposal of September 11th, the new solar field at Lanakerveld is called an "electricity production company". No fewer than 30 of the 32 hectares are made available for exploitation by (foreign) investors - for profit. The other two, good for the energy supply of 450 households, are issued to citizens on a long lease. At least, that is the desired situation. Practice has shown that support for large-scale projects such as these does not just come around. In order to involve citizens, the so-called ‘stadronde’ on this subject takes place on location in the neighbourhood (at community centre Manjefiek Malberg). During this meeting, EMEC (First Maastricht Energy Cooperative) has been invited to present its alternative vision on the energy transition in our city. The cooperative's vision-document was published yesterday and shows that many possibilities for sustainable energy production and citizen participation remain unused (think of the roofs of community centres and business premises in the inner city). The citizen association points to the advantages of a small-scale, phased and integrated approach to the energy transition in which the citizen invests and benefits, thus becoming less dependent on large energy producers. M:OED is in favour of the development of the Solar field, but strongly endorses EMEC's vision. The municipality must play a facilitating role in relation to energy cooperatives such as EMEC. There is a lot of money to be saved / earned with the energy transition and as far as we are concerned, that money remains in Maastricht, with the Maastricht citizen. What do you think, forward thinking followers? Can the plans of the municipality go together with the vision of EMEC? The climate problem is acute and we need to act quickly, but how do we ensure that citizens benefit? The meeting starts next Tuesday at 17.00 at the community centre at the Albersingel 62 and is open to the public. For the whole EMEC vision document or general questions hit up Lars Adams. Information about the meeting and the plans for Lanakerveld can be found in the council information system (all in Dutch, unfortunately) https://maastricht.notubiz.nl/vergadering/556761/Stadsronde