The transition to renewable energy has meant incremental growth in solar, wind, and energy transmission infrastructure in rural communities across the United States. As the interests of large-scale energy companies conflict with that of rural land users, politicians, and landowners, new energy infrastructure has often led to protests, lawsuits, and legislation. Despite the national influence of partisan politics and the current state of political polarization, opposition to energy infrastructure often combines left-and right-wing anti-establishment politics. Bipartisan alignments are influenced by common frustrations with perceived unfair decision making, threats to land, attachments to place, and lack of compensation or cost savings. The Inflation Reduction Act incentives are accelerating the energy transition and led to calls for regulatory reform, in part to limit the power of NIMBY obstructionists. Yet silencing opposition to new projects also means ignoring critiques of a top-down profit-driven energy transition. This paper thus draws attention to the hidden calls for an energy commons in public opposition to renewable energy infrastructure. I draw from 2019 and 2020 ethnographic research conducted in with opponents to New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), an energy transmission project connecting Quebec hydropower to southern New England. In this case, the belief that the project was driven by the financial interests of government and corporate actors fueled years-long opposition. The anti-establishment politics of NECEC opponents, distrust of energy companies, and high electric bills in turn fueled support for a 2023 referendum calling for the formation of a consumer-owned organization that would buy the existing electrical utility companies. Though neither of these efforts were successful, I will demonstrate that understanding potential for energy commons in the US depends on listening to renewable energy opponents.
