Gathering of data relevant for PV investment decisions

This document introduces synthesised data on solar PV investments in Switzerland and an accompanying R shiny app . The data were collected as part of two WWZ Forum research projects, FV-71 and FV-79, on prices associated with green buildings. In addition to unified data on solar PV subsidies by municipality, the datasets include processed data on PV installations, PV installation potential, electricity prices, feed-in-tariffs, and population size of each geographic unit. Furthermore, linking relevant variables by geographical unit poses a substantial challenge to any analysis on the PV distribution in Switzerland. The issue primarily stems from distinct, and sometimes arbitrary, observational units (political municipalities, addresses, post codes, operators with unclear areas of activity) used in original data sources. The present document, together with an accompanying R script, provides a pragmatic approach to overcome this issue

Lobbying Influence - The Role of Money, Strategies and Measurements

Comparing the results for preference attainment, self-perceived influence and reputational influence, this paper analyzes the relationship between financial resources and lobbying influence. The empirical analysis builds on data from an original survey with 312 Swiss energy policy stakeholders combined with document data from multiple policy consultation submission processes. The results show that the distribution of influence varies substantially depending on the measure. While financial resources for political purposes predict influence across all measures, the relationship is positive only for some. An analysis of indirect effects sheds light on the potential mechanisms that translate financial resources into influence

Equally supportive but for different reasons: Investigating public support for national energy transition goals vs. their implementation

Energy system transitions in democracies requires to reconcile national interests and central planning with the public’s preferences. To find ways of making public support for national energy strategies and technological implementation more aligned, this article investigates public support for the Swiss national energy strategy and two specific technological measures that are part of it: expansion of hydropower and deep geothermal energy. We address two research questions. First, how does public support for a national energy transition strategy differ from public support for the specific technology endorsed in the energy transition strategy? Second, are there differences in the factors influencing public support for these technologies? We investigate these questions empirically with a survey (n=640) focused on understanding the roles that energy expectations, future orientation, knowledge, and trust play in generating support for these two policy levels and between technologies. We find that while general support for an energy transition is well explained by above factors, this is true only to a much lesser extent for technology support. One conclusions is that while political ideologies play a role for the support of general energy transition goals, the support of energy technologies does not seem to be an issue that is politicized (yet?)

A Survey of Stakeholders' Views and Practices: Energy Policymaking in Switzerland

Along with policy proposers and individual voters, key stakeholders play a crucial role in shaping the socio-political acceptance of energy policy. Understanding a broad landscape of energy stakeholders' views and practices thus should be a central theme in energy transition research. The Energy Strategy 2050 (ES2050), a sweeping energy transition policy package in Switzerland, was adopted in 2017. Concrete policy goals implied by ES2050 are yet to be implemented. Although there is a large body of social acceptance studies focusing on individual voters, we have a relatively scant empirical understanding of how stakeholders in this domain perceive the policy goals and how perceptions are linked to their organizational characteristics. To elucidate Swiss energy stakeholders' perceptions on key action targets implied by recent energy policies in Switzerland, we analyzed data from our original survey with 364 organizations. We examined their views on concrete policy goals related to electric mobility, deep geothermal energy, wind energy, hydropower, and planned phase-outs of renewable energy subsidies. When asked to rate how realistic these goals appear to them, the majority of the stakeholders responded negatively. Furthermore, our findings indicate that, despite the considerable diversity and the overall pessimism in their feasibility perceptions, those that consider goals to be realistic are more likely to be active in the media. This is a concerning finding as the public might receive a biased impression via the media about the level of consensus among the stakeholders, who could, at times, be seen by the public as experts on the topic

A two-level analysis of public support: Exploring the role of beliefs in opinions about the Swiss energy strategy

Energy system transitions in democracies require that national interests and central planning are reconciled with the public’s preferences. This pilot study investigates public support for the Swiss national energy strategy and two specific technologies that are part of it: expansion of hydropower and deep geothermal energy. It addresses two research questions. First, how does public support for a national energy transition differ from public support for specific technologies endorsed in an energy transition strategy? Second, are there differences in the factors influencing public support for these technologies? We investigate these questions empirically with a survey (N = 640), focusing on understanding the role lay-people’s expectations about the future energy system, political ideology, and future orientation play in generating support for these two levels of public support and for two technologies with different characteristics. We find that while support for an energy transition is well explained by above factors, this is true to a much lesser extent for technology support. One conclusion is that support for an energy transition and for energy technologies is politicized to varying degrees, which is why their acceptability may be less shaped by their objective characteristics, but rather by subjective perceptions and beliefs the public holds towards them