From coal to renewable energy – financial implications for municipalities in Poland

Objectives The study analyses the often neglected issue of the impact of shifting from coal-based to renewable energy on the functioning of individuals, society and public law associations, including municipalities. The article is to present an analysis of financial consequences for communes. Moreover, the analysis covers such issues as coal energy and tax revenue of the commune, RES and the tax revenues of the commune, fiscal and non-fiscal benefits for communes with RES from the Polish perspective. Material and methods the law-dogmatic method and the legal comparative method Results The development of renewable energy sources has a huge impact on the functioning of communes. It applies both to the fiscal and non-fiscal levels. While from the perspective of residents, community, and the environment, the elimination of coal-fired power generation is beneficial, the situation is a great deal different from the perspective of the commune's income. Some of the communes in Poland gain considerable revenues from coal-based power engineering, the reduction (or liquidation) of which will directly translate into reduced revenues. Obviously, thanks to the development of RES, some communes will increase their revenues related to the existence and operations of RES, however, it will not necessarily be those communes that will lose revenues related to the operation of coal-based power engineering. Conclusions Assuming that there is no turning back from low-emission power engineering, it is necessary to amend the legal acts related to the financing of local government units in order to adjust the allocation of public funds between the state and local government units in such a way that some municipalities can be partially compensated for the loss of revenues related to coal power engineering.