Local authorities in France have recently been granted powers to take action in the domain of renewable energy. These authorities form part of a network of interdependent actors, for reasons of administrative power and funding opportunities. In this article, we discuss the strategies and projects implemented by a diverse set of local authority groupings in France, and highlight the different ways in which they have embraced the issues and challenges of renewable energy. These inter-municipal entities (Établissement public de coopération intercommunale, EPCI) vary in their sociocultural and geographic configurations, and our study shows that their local public action differs in terms of its underlying motivations. Renewable energy is a vector for development that can be utilized in various ways, sometimes to consolidate local public energy policies, and in other instances to bring in revenue. However, policy-making on territorial energy strategies is often limited to the scope of the inter-municipal structure. This narrow focus makes it difficult to develop strategies covering several territories, and in the long term, could lead neighboring territories to compete to attract investment. Some inter-municipal entities are looking to broaden their scope of action by consulting with other types of actors. In such cases, the challenge for EPCIs is how best to establish relationships with different energy stakeholders within a multi-scalar framework, in order to effectively steer their energy transition.