The third Innovation Talk in 2021 was held by Roland Kuras (Managing Director PowerSolution Energieberatung GmbH and initiator of the “Grätzl-Energy Community” in Vienna). In his insightful talk, he pointed out that the successive replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy systems is essential to achieve the climate targets. As of today, we are facing a fundamental upheaval in the entire energy supply, and the gradual phase-out from fossil fuels has begun. The task now is to significantly increase the local implementation of renewable energy systems. This power supply has a direct connection between energy producer and user and is required to achieve acceptance for the broad expansion of alternative energy systems. Thereby, energy communities are an important key to clean energy and a central component in driving the energy transition. Notably, energy communities and their role in the current government program in Austria have been examined. Trends and best practices have been discussed by explaining the rationale behind the concept. Through the presentation of survey results from Germany, Dr. Kuras provided insights into the particular motivation for energy communities. A final discussion round has provided interesting insights into how energy communities are currently perceived in Austria and how to move forward.