Incumbent lobbying as a barrier to forward-looking regulation: the case of demand-side response in the GB capacity market for electricity

The current transformation of energy systems around the world is fundamentally a policy-driven process, unlike previous socio-technical transitions. This article focuses on the challenges of constructing forward-looking policies for sustainable energy transitions in the presence of powerful incumbent interests, through an in-depth study of how the emerging option of demand-side response (DSR) was incorporated into the Capacity Market (CM) for electricity in Great Britain over the period 2010 to 2014. Drawing on extensive documentation related to the development of the CM rules and interviews with participants and close observers of the process, the paper provides an unusually detailed assessment of the influence of companies with large electricity generation assets. The evidence presented supports the hypotheses that these companies had influence through deploying public facing strategies, that they had been able to draw on close networks of contacts and networks with senior policy makers, and that the latter had internalised the ideas and interests of the former. Despite counter-lobbying by DSR firms and non-governmental organisations, institutional arrangements gave major generators an advantage in terms of access. The paper concludes by recommending the establishment of independent bodies to propose policies and monitor the process of their development during energy system transformation

Energy governance in the United Kingdom

The UK’s energy transition path has been shaped by a legacy of fossil fuel use across electricity generation, transport and heat, but also by the institutions and ideas that make up the governance of energy. Some important elements, such as a market-led policy paradigm and the delegation of regulation to arm’s-length bodies, are the result of privatization in the 1980s. Others, such as a heavily centralized, supply-led power sector and a resilient nuclear lobby, are continuities from an earlier period. This governance system, strongly concentrated within central government, was challenged in a major way in the 2000s by a wave of concern about climate change. This driver has meant that the UK energy transition has been primarily about emissions reduction, rather than specific technologies such as renewable energy, whose expansion in the UK has largely been the result of European-level policy. With a preference for incentive-based and internalizing instruments over direct regulation arising from the market-led paradigm, the UK has managed to bring about a major decline in power sector emissions and some increase in renewable energy, especially in electricity generation, while at the same time trying to support a program of new nuclear build. However, as the country now enters the next phase of transition, involving integration of intermittent renewables into electricity sector systems and institutions, and of transport and heat into electricity, the coherence of policy, clarity of direction, and coordination of regulatory change are all open to question

Unpacking 'regime resistance' in low-carbon transitions: the case of the British Capacity Market

The ability of powerful incumbent actors to resist technological or institutional changes that threaten their vested interests is a core part of the literature on sustainable energy transitions, but more often asserted in general than tested in specific cases. This article presents analysis of a detailed study of the introduction of a Capacity Market(CM) for electricity in Great Britain in the period 2010–2011, using a process tracing approach. The study finds evidence to support the view that large electricity generators have a significant degree of structural power in relation to decision makers, that such companies did lobby the government through the CM policy process, and that the ideas deployed had an effect on the shape of the CM. However, there were also divisions amongst the large generating companies on whether they wanted a CM or not, and what its design should be. We also show that the institutional circumstances of the CM policy process we requite specific, giving opportunities for lobbying that may not be present in other cases. We conclude it is essential to have an analysis of incumbent power that is contingent on institutional context, the specific nature of interests and the deployment of ideas. To counter incumbent power and structural dependency during sustainable energy transformation, an independent but legitimate body is needed to the direction of policy

Governance of industry rules and energy system innovation: the case of codes in Great Britain

Detailed rules in the energy sector are crucial for realising the transformation of energy systems to sustainability, but are often overlooked. This paper explores institutional design in governance arrangements for detailed rules, through the case study of British energy industry codes. The British codes governance system involves a high degree of delegation and associated risks of regulatory and informational capture. There is also a gap between code objectives and wider policy goals, producing regulatory inertia. A reform proposal to address these problems is presented. Wider lessons for the governance of detailed rule systems in other countries are drawn out

New challenges in energy security: the UK in a multipolar world

We are faced with the twin urgent challenges of delivering a low carbon and secure energy system. The last few years have seen Britain moving from being a net exporter to a net importer of energy. The threat of climate change has led to the slow but inexorable inclusion of environmental concerns in mainstream energy policy. Against this backdrop, economic and political power around the globe has altered, creating a complex, multipolar world. Rising concerns about the long term availability and price of oil, gas and uranium only add to the challenges facing Britain. This timely volume brings together key researchers and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines, including energy policy, international relations and supply chains, to explore the practical policy options in addressing energy security in Britain

Governing for sustainable energy system change: politics, context and contingency

This paper offers a new, interdisciplinary framework for the analysis of governing for sustainable energy system change by drawing together insights from, and offering critiques of, socio-technical transitions and new institutionalist concepts of change. Institutions of all kinds, including rules and norms within political and energy systems, tend to have path-dependent qualities that make them difficult to change, whereas we also know that profound change has occurred in the past. Current decisions to pursue climate change mitigation by dramatically changing how energy is produced and used depend to some extent on finding the right enabling conditions for such change. The approach adopted here reveals the highly political and contingent nature of attempts to govern for innovations, how political institutions mediate differently between forces for sustainable change and forces for continuity, as well as specific interactions between governance and practice change within energy systems. It concludes that it is only by being specific about the contingent nature of governing for innovations, and about how this affects practices in energy systems differently, that those of us interested in sustainability can credibly advise policy makers and drive for greater change

DataSheet_1_What data are needed to detect wildfire effects on coastal ecosystems? A case study during the Thomas Fire.pdf

Wildfires are growing in frequency and severity worldwide, with anthropogenic climate change predicted to worsen the effects of wildfires in the future. While most wildfire impacts occur on land, coastal fires can also affect the ocean via smoke production and ash deposition. The impacts of wildfires on marine ecology and biogeochemistry have been studied infrequently, as it is difficult to conduct fieldwork rapidly and safely during unpredictable natural disasters. Increasingly, remote sensing measurements are used to study the impacts of wildfires on marine ecosystems through optical proxies. Given the optical impacts of smoke and in-water ash, these measurements may be limited in their scope and accuracy. Here, we evaluate the potential and limitations of remote sensing data collected from MODIS-Aqua to describe the effects of wildfires on optics and phytoplankton observations. Using samples collected in the Santa Barbara Channel (California, USA) during the Thomas Fire in December 2017, we found that MODIS-Aqua data were unsuited for interpreting ecosystem effects during a wildfire. Our results identified a persistent overestimation of chlorophyll-a concentration from MODIS-Aqua compared to in situ measurements. Optical models applied to in situ radiometry data overestimated the absorption by colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) during the wildfire. Satellites will remain an important tool to measure the impacts of wildfires on marine ecosystems, but this analysis demonstrates the importance of in situ sampling to quantify the impacts of wildfires on ocean ecology and biogeochemistry due to the difficulty of interpreting remote sensing data during these events.</p

Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: a research agenda

Improving the understanding of the politics of sustainable energy transitions has become a major focus for research. This paper builds on recent interest in institutionalist approaches to consider in some depth the agenda arising from a historical institutionalist perspective on such transitions. It is argued that historical institutionalism is a valuable complement to socio-technical systems approaches, offering tools for the explicit analysis of institutional dynamics that are present but implicit in the latter framework, opening up new questions and providing useful empirical material relevant for the study of the wider political contexts within which transitions are emerging. Deploying a number of core concepts including veto players, power, unintended consequences, and positive and negative feedback in a variety of ways, the paper explores research agendas in two broad areas: understanding diversity in transition outcomes in terms of the effects of different institutional arrangements, and the understanding of transitions in terms of institutional development and change. A range of issues are explored, including: the roles of electoral and political institutions, regulatory agencies, the creation of politically credible commitment to transition policies, power and incumbency, institutional systems and varieties of capitalism, sources of regime stability and instability, policy feedback effects, and types of gradual institutional change. The paper concludes with some observations on the potential and limitations of historical institutionalism, and briefly considers the question of whether there may be specific institutional configurations that would facilitate more rapid sustainable energy transitions

Accelerating Access - Making Open Access Policies Work From Day One

<p>Successful recruitment of published content into institutional repositories relies on three key components: 1) funder mandates or institutional policies requiring deposit of papers; 2) a means of ensuring that deposit occurs as soon as possible after a paper’s acceptance or publication; and 3) an efficient, intuitive mechanism for helping faculty fulfill their deposit requirements with minimal effort.</p> <p>Research management systems play an increasingly important role in the scholarly publishing ecosystem, helping collate information about scholars’ publications and enabling institutions to effectively implement and monitor open access policies. . This presentation examines how a research management system can be set up to provide faculty with the tools they need to easily comply with their institutional OA policy and to help repository managers track policy compliance rates across the institution.</p

Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: a research agenda

Improving the understanding of the politics of sustainable energy transitions has become a major focus for research. This paper builds on recent interest in institutionalist approaches to consider in some depth the agenda arising from a historical institutionalist perspective on such transitions. It is argued that historical institutionalism is a valuable complement to socio-technical systems approaches, offering tools for the explicit analysis of institutional dynamics that are present but implicit in the latter framework, opening up new questions and providing useful empirical material relevant for the study of the wider political contexts within which transitions are emerging. Deploying a number of core concepts including veto players, power, unintended consequences, and positive and negative feedback in a variety of ways, the paper explores research agendas in two broad areas: understanding diversity in transition outcomes in terms of the effects of different institutional arrangements, and the understanding of transitions in terms of institutional development and change. A range of issues are explored, including: the roles of electoral and political institutions, regulatory agencies, the creation of politically credible commitment to transition policies, power and incumbency, institutional systems and varieties of capitalism, sources of regime stability and instability, policy feedback effects, and types of gradual institutional change. The paper concludes with some observations on the potential and limitations of historical institutionalism, and briefly considers the question of whether there may be specific institutional configurations that would facilitate more rapid sustainable energy transitions