Co-operative Model
Community Power, Owned by the People
A Shared Vision
WE Share is a framework that helps communities generate, store, and share energy locally. It brings people together to build systems that are fair, resilient, and sustainable — with both benefits and decision-making kept in community hands.
Our approach is simple: local generation, shared use, transparent governance, and open collaboration. Together, these create a living model for community-owned energy that can evolve and replicate across Aotearoa.
Where We Are Now
WE Share is currently exploring the financial realities, governance structures, and community appetite for a community-owned energy cooperative — a model where everyday residents, schools, and local organisations could hold real ownership and decision-making power over the electricity network that serves them.
WE Share operates through connected projects and governance circles that sit alongside wider sector developments — including work under review by the Electricity Authority and ongoing activity by Vector and Ecotricity — helping clarify what a future community entity would require for meaningful local participation and benefit.
This may take the form of a legally registered co-operative or a comparable community-owned structure, depending on what best supports long-term community benefit and regulatory alignment.
Two Sides of Cooperation
Community Ownership
Exploring models for people to own energy assets collectively.
Collaborative Practice
Developing consent-based governance, transparent partnerships, and shared decision-making.
Together, these create a co-operative system where energy, data, and resources circulate within the community rather than being extracted from it.
Explore
1
Community Ownership
The potential legal co-operative and funding pathways.
2
Working Together
How WE Share partners with others to make it real.
3
Governance & Roles
Decision-making and stewardship principles.
3
Specialist Support & Partnerships
Experts and allies contributing under co-operative values.
The Short Version
- The Co-operative Model is how WE Share brings people, partners, and projects together — to own, manage, and benefit from shared energy systems.