GOVERNING DIGITAL ENERGY

EMILY JUDSON, PHD RESEARCHER, ENERGY POLICY GROUP

UK ELECTRICITY SYSTEM OF THE PAST

Generation Transmission Distribution Consumption

One way energy flow

Large, centralised

thermal generation.

Fossil, nuclear,

some renewables.

High voltage,

national, long-

distance networks.

Lower voltage,

regional, shorter

distance networks.

Commercial and

domestic, via

technologies,

largely ‘passive’.

ENERGY SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION

Decentralisation

Digitalisation

DemocratisationDecarbonisation

Source: adapted from Soutar 2019

Climate change mitigation

ICT and data development

Reduced costs of renewables

New actors & responsibilities

WHICH TECHNOLOGIES ARE INVOLVED?

Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2017, p. 11 Figure 12

NEW VALUE PROPOSITIONS AND BUSINESS MODELS

Sources: see reference slide

GOVERNING DIGITAL ENERGY FOR EQUITABLE

DECARBONISATION

SOCIO-TECHNICAL FRAMING

• Developed in Science and Technology Studies

• Co-evolution (Foxton, 2014) and mutual shaping

of technology and society (Geels, 2005).

• Technology is never socially neutral.

• But humans may prefer algorithmic decision-making,

perceiving it as more ‘objective’ than human decision-

making (eg Logg et. al., 2019).

• Outcome: failure to look for or acknowledge

unintended negative consequences of new tech.

Source: author’s own

THE UK DIGITAL GOVERNANCE LANDSCAPE

Risk of gaps, duplication and slow pace of change.

• A relatively nascent infrastructure,

reflecting recent technological

development and uptake that is still

growing rapidly.

• Governance spread across at least

12 regulators (House of Lords

2019) and industry self-regulation.

• Focus on communications, media and

online transactions. Other industries

missing – including energy.

Source: Complete VNI Forecast, Cisco, 2018

THE ENERGY GOVERNANCE LANDSCAPE

Photo: Chris Collins / Margaret Thatcher Foundation, CC BY-SA 3.0

• A complex and mature system

rooted in the 1980s

• Developed under state roll-back

and privatisation

• Includes public and private actors

Source: Dr Bridget Woodman, Energy Policy Group, University of Exeter

• Energy governance today is built from historical

context: maintaining a centralised, market-led

and fossil fuel centric system.

WHILE SOME CHANGE IS HAPPENING…

… overall, regulation has not kept pace.

OTHER MANIFESTATIONS OF GOVERNANCE?

Bottom-up:

diverse,

locally

determined

solutions,

difficult to

scale.

Top-down:

centralised

processes,

policy and

regulation,

applied at

scale.

Decentralisation

Digitalisation

DemocratisationDecarbonisation

New forms emerging from a changing context

‘PUBLIC INTEREST’ OUTCOMES

ENERGY DEMOCRACY• A nebulous and contested term.

• Activist roots, but now more academic development (e.g. Thombs 2019, Szulecki 2018, Soutar 2018).

• Opportunities for formal (eg national policy consultations) and informal (eg changing attitudes or

practices) participation in system transformation.

• Key point: opportunity to contest and shape the ‘rules of the game’.

• Democratisation of energy AND information/technology?

SUMMARY: 5 KEY POINTS

1. The energy system is changing fast.

2. Digitalization is an area of particularly rapid and unpredictable change.

3. Technological change can lead to unintended negative consequences.

4. Effective governance of digital energy is therefore required to ensure that change

aligns with valuable environmental and social outcomes.

5. Current energy and digital governance does note serve this purpose.

THE CHALLENGE:

• How can we build a ‘fit for purpose’ governance

framework(s) for digital energy, that supports

equitable transformation to a decarbonised energy

system?

APPROACH AND METHODS:

• Literature review and policy analysis

• Commercial landscape mapping

• Qualitative data collection: workshops and interviews

REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSSupervision: Dr Iain Soutar and Professor Catherine Mitchell, Energy Policy Group, University of Exeter.

• Bloomberg New Energy Finance: “Digitalization of Energy Systems” whitepaper, 6 November 2017. Accessible via: https://sie.ag/2XEAdDk

• Evison, J. “Ikea creates blockchain solution to "democratise" renewable energy”, Edie, 11 March 2019. Accessible via: https://bit.ly/2WfDaWF

• Foxton, J. and Steinberger, J.: “Energy, efficiency and economic growth: a coevolutionary perspective and implications for a low carbon transition”, Centre for Climate Change Economics and

Policy Working Paper No. 146 and Sustainability Research Institute Paper No. 49, September 2013. Accessible via: https://bit.ly/2XeZ8ck

• Geels, F.: “Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study”, Research Policy, vol.31(8), 2002, pp1252 – 1274.

• Glachant, J.M. and Rosetto, N.: “The Digital World Knocks at Electricity’s Door: Six Building Blocks to Understand Why”, Florence School of Regulation – Energy, Issue 16, September 2018.

• House of Lords Select Committee on Communications: “Regulating in a Digital World”, 2nd Report of Session 2017–19, 9 March 2019.

• iGov, “IGov Primer – Fit for Purpose GB Energy Governance Framework”, iGov, 4 February 2019. Accessible via: https://bit.ly/2WfELM9

• Logg, J., Minson, J., and Moore, D.: ” Algorithm appreciation: People prefer algorithmic to human judgment”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 151, 2019, pp90 –

103.

• New Energy Update. “Google AI hikes wind power value by 20%; UK targets 30 GW offshore wind by 2030”, 7 March 2019. Accessible via: https://bit.ly/2Hx5YH0

• Ram, A. “Europe’s AI start-ups often do not use AI, study finds”, Financial Times, 5 March 2019. Accessible via: Europe’s AI start-ups often do not use AI, study finds

• Soutar, I. “Emergence and control in UK energy system democratisation”, In Search of ‘Good’ Energy Policy, University of Cambridge, 26th Feb 2019. Accessible via: https://bit.ly/2CvTbQV

• Soutar, I: “We need to talk about (deep) energy democracy”, Exeter Energy Policy Group Blog, 12 November 2018. Accessible via: https://bit.ly/2Xe9dey

• Sustainability First New Public Interest Network, “Looking to the long term: hearing the public interest voice in energy and water”, February 2018. Accessible via: https://bit.ly/2Cuvbxm

• Szulecki, K: “Conceptualising energy democracy”, Environmental Politics, vol. 27, 2018, pp 21-41.

• Thombs, R: “When democracy meets energy transitions: A typology of social power and energy system scale”, Energy Research and Social Science, vol. 52, 2019, pp159-168.

• Vaughan, A. “AI and drones turn an eye towards UK's energy infrastructure”, The Guardian, 2 December 2018. Accessible via: https://bit.ly/2U8CBha

ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?

e.judson@exeter.ac.uk

@TheEmilyJudson

@exeterepg