Dive Summary:

• Citizen Energy Berlin is looking to buy and takeover the electrical grid in Berlin, Germany, in hopes of putting profits back into the system, accelerating the integration of renewables and deployment of smart meters.
• The group has recruited roughly 1,000 members, each contributing at least £430 a share, and has raised €5.4 million. Owned by Swedish company Vattenfall, the city's grid is up for sale in 2014 and is currently valued at between €800 million to €3 billion.
• Berlin's grid is the largest in Germany. A takeover would allow a co-op to run the grid from 2015 to 2035.

From the article:
 

Arwen Colell was cycling down a Berlin street one afternoon when a friend from her choir group called her and said: "We should buy the electrical grid." The idea was not out of the blue. Germany's energy transition, from nuclear and fossil fuels to renewables, has lined rooftops with solar panels. But it was another ambition to run Berlin's distribution network.

Colell did not hesitate. "We should definitely do it," she said. "Good idea."