A multilevel analysis of the intention to engage in Renewable Energy Communities (RECs): The role of individual dimensions and trust in local institutions

Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) are increasingly promoted as key tools for participatory energy transition, yet the psychosocial factors shaping citizens' intention to join them remain only partially understood. This study examines individual and community-level predictors of the intention to join a REC among Italian citizens not currently involved in one, using a multilevel and multiple informant approach. Data was collected from 900 participants nested within 30 Italian municipalities. Individual-level variables included perceived positive and negative impacts of RECs, perceived benefits of RECs based on social communications, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, eco-anxiety, and subjective norms. Trust in local institutions was examined as a municipality-level predictor. At the individual level, the intention to engage in a REC was positively associated with eco-anxiety, extrinsic motivation, perceived communications-based benefits, and subjective norms, and negatively associated with perceived negative impacts of RECs; intrinsic motivation and perceived positive impacts showed no association. At the municipality level, higher trust in local institutions was unexpectedly related to lower intention to engage in a REC. Overall, findings suggest that engagement in RECs is driven more by pragmatic incentives, social pressures, and affective coping with climate-related negative emotions than by intrinsic motivation, and that institutional trust may reduce perceived personal responsibility for action. These results contribute to community energy and energy citizenship literature by further unraveling the individual and community-related aspects that can promote or hinder citizens’ involvement in RECs.