H.C. Østerby became the face of the Danish Democrats' opposition to solar cells

It is not only the citizens who can come across. 

In November, the mayor of Holstebro, H.C. Østerby (S), could see his face appear on Facebook above a picture of long rows of solar cells under heavy, gray clouds with the text “Østerby’s vision for the municipality”. 

The advertisement was targeted at the citizens of the municipality and Central Jutland with the text “Your Social Democratic mayor of Holstebro will plaster the municipality with iron fields.” According to data from Facebook, the advertisement has received 90,000-100,000 exposures. 

The advertisement came two days after H.C. Østerby in the Althingi took issue with Inger Støjberg’s interpretation that the government’s energy parks were being pulled down over the heads of the municipalities. 

- I said that this was not about Copenhagen versus the rest of the country, but that we, who live in the open countryside, have an important task to take on, but that the government must look at how to provide better compensation and make the efforts more visible, says H.C. Østerby. 

- It was then used against me in an advertisement. So you can probably guess what the posters will look like in the autumn, he adds. 

H.C. Østerby already predicts that the issue of climate initiatives, energy parks and solar cells will play a central part of the upcoming election campaign.  

- Some parties will try to seize the public mood. It only takes one person or a party with simplistic views to make it part of the election campaign, says H.C. Østerby. 

The mayor emphasizes the broad consensus that has founded the municipality's line on the issue, but that it may be challenged in the next period.

- We are currently 27 members of the city council from six parties, who have agreed on the strategy for many years, but I am well aware that new, small parties may come in that will create polarization.

- It doesn't take much before doubts can be cast about a project if there are one or two parties that oppose it. And then some people get scared, especially in an election year.

On the cutting edge of problems

Otherwise, there have been few conflicts since H.C. Østerby became mayor in 2010.

- We have been out early and on the cutting edge of the problems. We started 25 years ago with an eight-ten year plan, where we analyzed the entire municipality in relation to good opportunities for wind energy. We have therefore had plenty of time for dialogue and conversations with the citizens, he says.

However, the task of finding space is becoming more and more difficult as the requirements from the state grow, the RE plants grow in size, and more companies have interests in the municipalities' land.

- Many more players are on the scene, and as many more projects have been launched, it will also affect more citizens. In addition, there is a lot of focus on the things that go wrong, or the less successful projects, and this places new demands on us as a municipality in relation to the dialogue with the citizens, says H.C. Østerby.

It is not just in relation to the citizens that the municipality must be sharper. This also applies to the project developers, who have both increased in number, but who are also fighting an internal battle for the best land, and who are bidding on projects for the municipalities. Here, H.C. Østerby believes that other municipalities can learn from Holstebro's experiences.

- It has never been the case that we have just opened the front door if a developer has come with a lot of money. But we have only once given the green light to a project outside of normal screening. It was the first time that we experienced resistance to a project where suddenly there were citizens in the city council chamber when we were supposed to vote on it, says H.C. Østerby:

- The resistance arose because the project was not sufficiently well-thought-out, and we were a bit taken aback. We did not achieve the same thorough process that we otherwise have, and I think that is where many municipalities go wrong, and where the pressure on the mayor arises. It was an experience that we learned a lot from.

The state does not understand the challenges

Holstebro is one of the 14 municipalities that can look forward to laying the groundwork for one of the state-designated energy parks, namely at Idomlund, which the municipality itself calls Energy Hub Holstebro.

Although H.C. Østerby has previously criticized the process of designating the energy parks, he emphasizes that the project will play an important role for the municipality in the future.

- We see it as our future project, which will create jobs and prosperity for the area over the next 15-20 years. That is the long-term vision we have, and it is the result of our continuous layering of our efforts, says H.C. Østerby.

It is therefore both for its own benefit and to help the government achieve its goal of quadrupling renewable energy that the municipality continues to lay the groundwork.

However, the mayor calls on the government to get more involved. Both to show gratitude to the municipalities that are contributing to the green transition, and also to eliminate some of the resistance.

- If we are to achieve our common ambition, we need to move at a completely different pace. Only one wind turbine was installed in the whole of 2023. Citizens feel far too little value creation, and so do the municipalities, which are supposed to help get projects up and running.

- If the state wants to achieve its ambition, it needs to get much more involved. Sometimes I have the feeling that they don't understand the battles that we are currently fighting in the municipalities, says H.C. Østerby.

The article was originally published in DOI.dk's sister media Kommunen.dk.