Nearly 40 people – representatives of Polish local authorities, energy companies and institutions operating on the energy market – took part in a debate organized in the framework of the 2^nd Polish Round Table on Energy Data Sharing, which was held by PNEC on the 2^nd of June 2014 in Cracow. During the debate the participants discussed current situation regarding cooperation and energy data sharing between energy utilities and municipalities, as well as ways of improving this cooperation in future in order to ensure sustainable energy development on the local level. The meeting was organized within the international project entitled MESHARTILITY, implemented by PNEC in the period 2012-2015.

The MESHARTILITY project (full title: „Measure and share data with utilities for the Covenant of Mayors”) aims at the development of solutions and tools facilitating exchange of energy data between energy utilities and local authorities that are busy assessing local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and planning action to address this through energy savings, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy. These solutions and tools will help cities, who are signatories of the Covenant of Mayors, to develop their Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs). The project is co-financed by the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) programme of the European Union.

2 Polish Round Table on Energy Data Sharing was organised in a form of a discussion with the participation of the representatives of local authorities and energy utilities from all over the country. It was devoted to the topic of energy data collection and sharing, as well as overall cooperation of both parties aimed at achieving common energy-related goals. During the debate following issues were thoroughly discussed:

• local energy planning and local emission inventories;
• cooperation agreements between local authorities and energy utilities;
• possibilities of improving cooperation between local authorities and energy utilities;
• possibilities of improving energy data collection process for the needs of local energy planning; creation of central database;
• preparation of recommendations for the national authorities concerning improving national legal frameworks to further support good and efficient cooperation between local authorities and energy utilities;

Participation in the meeting was not only an opportunity to listen to inspiring presentations, but also to exchange experience, ideas and opinions with other representatives of self-government and energy sectors.

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