erty or social exclusion. However, this situation may be the first step on the path toward exclusion.” AUTO-CONSUMPTION Over that coffee, Olena, Milagros, Hjare, and José María wouldn’t just agree on domestic economy tricks to cut consumption and make their incomes go farther. They’d also have in common their participation in a public-private partnership scheme that may be able to help them. The four households are part of the collective auto-consumption project to reduce energy poverty developed by acciona.org and the local council of San Juan del Puerto (popula-tion of roughly 9,400). ACCIONA’s corporate foundation installs PV solar panels on the roof of the municipal sports center and, from there, distrib-utes the power generated to their homes. This free-of-cost injec-tion of clean electricity will cut the homes’ annual electricity bills by around 20%. That’s the guaranteed minimum, but savings could rise as the program progresses and its efficiency is opti-mized based on analysis of the relevant data. Although the households pay nothing for the service, the mod-el is not one of social welfare but of co-responsibility between the foundation and the town of San Juan del Puerto. The initial investment in studies, equipment, construction, management, and monitoring is covered by acciona.org, while the local coun-cil, which also uses a substantial portion of the power generated, makes monthly payments until acciona.org recovers its invest-ment and ownership of the facility is transferred to the town. OTHER NECESSITIES “I believe these savings will make it easier to make ends meet—says José María—because now, if we pay the electricity bill we have to go without other important things. We’ll be able to use the money for other necessities; there’s always something and prices are rising now.” For Olena, that important thing could be paying the mort-gage, which she does on a single salary, or funding her daughter’s daily rhythmic gymnastics training and the trips she has to make now that she’s competing all over Andalusia. Milagros says that if burden of high electricity costs eases, she’ll be better able to help her daughter “look for government exams or work as a teacher in Huelva or somewhere else.” Cutting the bill is even more of a prior-ity for her because the electrical equipment that provides assistance for her mother makes it harder to use conventional savings strate-gies like maximizing off-peak energy usage. Hjare would welcome any measures that increase efficiency in a household burdened by the costs of a large family—she has three younger siblings—as well as the ability to use the internet for her distance studies without having to limit her usage so much. “The key thing for us is definitely saving money,” she says, “but if the power is also renewable, non-polluting, and helps the environ-ment, then all the better.” A PIONEERING PROJECT THAT CAN BE REPRODUCED