Based on a socio-economic study of Enercoop, the French network of energy cooperatives, which is a group of activist cooperatives for renewable energies, this chapter outlines the theoretical framework of the new social economy. The latter is composed of two sides: the instituting and the instituted. The chapter goes on to describe the details of the Enercoop model and identifies three restoring forces that allow the instituting to remain in the instituted. Finally, it discusses these three forces, examining the questions raised by this type of initiative for a real democratization of renewable energies.