Energy Transition as a Local Development Priority: Implications for Municipal Investment Activity in South-Eastern Poland

Abstract

The article contributes to the discussion on the determinants of local governments’ engagement in energy transition-related investment. It aims at identifying the position of the energy transition among the development priorities of local authorities and at assessing the extent to which this factor is associated with actual and planned municipal investment activity in the area of local energy transition. The analysis uses data collected through surveys conducted in cooperation with the Statistical Office in Rzeszów between 2023 and 2025 among all municipalities (160) in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. Differences in investment activity among municipalities with varying approaches to energy transition were examined using the Mann–Whitney U, Pearson’s chi-square (χ2), and exact Fisher (or FFH) tests. The results suggest that municipalities that prioritised the energy transition allocated a slightly higher share of their investment expenditure to related projects, particularly renewable energy installations, and planned higher future spending in this area. Nevertheless, the research indicates that prioritisation is particularly relevant for planned investments, for which differences between groups were statistically significant, whereas no statistically significant differences were observed for realised investments. The findings highlight the need for a reorientation of the national and EU support, including greater emphasis on raising local environmental awareness of the energy transition benefits.