Who controls electricity transitions? Digitization, decarbonization, and local power organizations

Much of the work on technology transitions and electricity has concentrated on sustainability from the perspective of centralized generation and transmission companies. For example, there is a substantial literature in energy social science on the role that the smart grid plays in the sustainable energy transition, and much of that research assumes continuity with a traditional centralized electric system, modified slightly to admit some distributed energy resources. We start from a different perspective. First, our focus is less on centralized generation and transmission companies and more on organizations that distribute electricity and related services to end customers in a defined geographic area. These entities are described in a variety of ways across countries; we use the term local power organizations (LPOs). Second, we focus less directly on the sustainability transition as such and more on the complex sociotechnical changes produced by specific digital tools. We open the black box of digital technologies that underpin the sustainability transition to highlight implicated sociotechnical issues, ranging from individual privacy to control and ownership of electricity. We then outline three central challenges of digitization that suggest new directions in energy social science research as the future control of electricity develops along its digital pathway.

Automated summary

The passage points out that existing research on technology transitions and electricity focuses on sustainability, while the article emphasizes distributed energy and electricity distribution organizations serving end customers. Additionally, it highlights the complex sociotechnical changes brought about by digital technologies in the sustainability transition.