Powershifts: A framework for assessing the growing impact of decentralized ownership of energy transitions on political decision-making

Brisbois, Marie Claire

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2018.12.003

Cited by 100 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Mitigating climate change requires a fundamental and rapid transition in the way electricity is generated. While the global electricity sector with its conventional and climate-damaging power generation is dominated by large incumbent utility companies, local players, such as municipal utilities (e.g., German Stadtwerke), community and cooperative renewable energy (co)producers, are becoming increasingly important [1,2]. As the incumbents have historically been slow to embrace change [3], initiatives are increasingly taking place at the local level with the intention of accelerating the needed energy transition to mitigate climate change [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Success Factors for the Foundation of Municipal Utilities in Germany

Wagner

Berlo

Herr³

et al. 2021

Energies

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More than 150 municipal utilities (so-called Stadtwerke) were established in Germany from the beginning of the millennium, bringing the total number of Stadtwerke currently established within the country to approximately 900. With responsibility for more than half of the supply of electricity, gas and heat in Germany, these Stadtwerke play a central role in the transformation of the energy sector, or Energiewende. In addition, due to their local and regional ties, Stadtwerke have a particular role to play in energy politics, the economy and across society. This article focuses on the motives behind, and grounds for, the current wave of newly established Stadtwerke. Further, it discusses the factors that were critical to the successful formation of new Stadtwerke in recent years. The results of our survey indicate that the establishment of municipal Stadtwerke is a suitable measure to implement the energy transition at the local level, whereby the concept of public value has a high level of importance for the local decision-makers. Collaboration and cooperation, as well as a resilience-oriented strategy, are important success factors for new Stadtwerke.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The traditional privilege enjoyed by incumbent electricity producers is challenged by new niche actors promoting energy transition from a decentralised level [2,3,5]. In this context, political struggles between competing interests are increasing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Success Factors for the Foundation of Municipal Utilities in Germany

Wagner

Berlo

Herr³

et al. 2021

Energies

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“…According to the U.K. government, definition decentralised energy is not necessarily renewable, although it is characterised by the spatial proximity of energy generation and consumption (DBER, 2008). Energy decentralisation has multiple meanings depending on what is being decentralised: ownership, hardware, knowledge, power or decision making (Brisbois, 2019; Judson et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of business models for decentralised renewable energy projects

Piterou

Coles

2020

Bus Strat Env

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The diffusion of renewable energy technologies has often been suggested as a means to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, but emphasis tends to be placed on large scale projects. Adoption of renewable energy at the local level provides opportunities for both distributed energy schemes and domestic microgeneration. However, alternative models of ownership, governance and operation are not well developed. Locally managed energy solutions need to respond to varied end users' requirements to ensure that needs are met, so understanding of different types of end users is a prerequisite to the development of robust business models. This paper presents a review of existing models of decentralised energy generation in which actors such as community groups, energy cooperatives, charities and municipalities participate as owners and coproducers. End users can become involved in the design, development and delivery of energy services in a variety of ways. The focus is active user engagement through coconstruction, coproduction and coprovision of energy services. The following categories will be reviewed with reference to current understandings of both sustainable entrepreneurship and social enterprise: (a) energy service companies (ESCos) as commercial actors that undertake management of these projects, (b) energy cooperatives and (c) municipal energy. This analysis is used to reflect on and refine understanding of the relationship between technical, financial and operational constructs in models of decentralised energy generation which can contribute to social and environmental gains.

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“…Yet the potential for social conflict within homes, communities and cities using energy is potentially grave, for it could interfere with the shift to energy services in a world moving in the direction of energy prosuming, decentralization and increasingly connected smart systems (Brisbois 2019;Parag and Sovacool 2016). Social conflict within households, or between households and communities, could also complicate and negatively shape the ability for decentralized energy supply or energy service models to contribute meaningfully to community owned energy systems or efforts at pushing energy democracy (van Veelen and van der Horst 2018;Szulecki 2018;Delina 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From thermal comfort to conflict: The contested control and usage of domestic smart heating in the United Kingdom

Sovacool

Martiskainen

Osborn³

et al. 2020

Energy Research & Social Science

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The possible benefits of the ongoing digitization and enhancement of energy services with smart technologies has been extensively documented in the literature, but is there also scope for smart systems to lead to household conflicts? In this study, using data from the Energy Systems Catapult's Living Laboratory, we explore a fundamental energy service (heat) utilized in buildings from a novel angle: social conflict. We define social conflict as oppositional goals, aims, and values held by different people. We draw from three sets of primary data-diary studies and blogging via mobile ethnography, telephone interviews, and household interviews-involving 100 homes across Birmingham (West Midlands), Bridgend (Wales), Manchester (Greater Manchester), and Newcastle (Northumberland) in the United Kingdom. We identify five different forms of "thermal conflict": parents versus children, hosts versus guests, roommates vs. each other, landlords vs. tenants, and couples vs. each other. After documenting the presence of 20 specific examples of conflict, we then discuss how they differ by location (intrinsic vs. extrinsic), type (preference, attitude, and variety) and values (hedonic, egoistic, altruistic, biospheric). We conclude with implications for energy and buildings research and policy more broadly, noting that thermal conflicts in the home differ in their location or cause. Thermal conflicts differ in their severity, with some occurring as more minor annoyances over preferences, but others relating attitudes, where heating actions or preferences become a proxy for something else, and emit strong feelings about how a household members views another person as lazy, careless or wasteful. A variety of values remain attached to heating conflicts, with hedonic (self-comfort, self-pleasure), egoistic (saving money, control) and altruistic (helping others, making others comfortable) values almost evenly reflected across our examples.

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Powershifts: A framework for assessing the growing impact of decentralized ownership of energy transitions on political decision-making

Abstract: Article (Accepted Version) http://sro.sussex.ac.uk Brisbois, Marie Claire (2018) Powershifts: a framework for assessing the growing impact of decentralized ownership of energy transitions on political decision-making. Energy Research & Social Science, 50. pp. 151-161.

Cited by 100 publications

References 68 publications

Success Factors for the Foundation of Municipal Utilities in Germany

Success Factors for the Foundation of Municipal Utilities in Germany

A review of business models for decentralised renewable energy projects

From thermal comfort to conflict: The contested control and usage of domestic smart heating in the United Kingdom

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