Regime resistance and accommodation in sustainable energy transitions

© 2020 Adrian Stuart FordTo help accelerate the decarbonisation of electricity generation and meaningfully mitigate climate change, a more nuanced understanding of the power and influence of incumbent electricity firms in government policymaking is required. Building on sustainability transitions literature, concepts from neo-Gramscian political economy and insights from strategic management, this study investigated the ways in which incumbent electricity generators, network operators, retailers, and their industry organisations sought to influence residential solar power policy. The single case study is focused on Victoria, Australia, using data obtained from multiple sources, including: legislation; policy submissions, reports and documents; organisational documents and materials; media releases and articles; and transcripts of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with key informants from electricity utilities and their industry peak bodies. The study examined federal and state government policy instruments that supported the installation of residential solar power before it explored attempts by incumbent electricity firms and their industry organisations to influence the development of Victorian feed-in tariffs, the State Government’s primary policy instrument. The research found that incumbent actors contributed to the (re)production of a socio-technical regime by drawing on material, institutional and discursive forms of power to execute strategies of resistance and accommodation. Incumbent actors resisted feed-in tariffs by discussing them in negative terms, building alliances with opposed civil society organisations, lobbying policymakers and reminding them of their mutually dependent relationship. However, incumbent actors accommodated feed-in tariffs by working with government to implement its policy initiatives. Incumbent firms accommodated renewables more generally by operating renewable energy business units and joining renewable energy industry organisations, although the later served to moderate support for feed-in tariffs. The study also found that a number of external and internal factors shaped the strategic approach of incumbent electricity firms and limited the extent of their resistance. High public support for residential solar power and strong government determination to implement feed-in tariffs were key external factors that discouraged greater resistance from incumbent firms. Key internal factors included the assessment of feed-in tariffs as low risk to the ongoing profitability of incumbent firms, and higher policy priorities, the achievement of which necessitated good relations with government and the sacrifice of lower policy priorities. These findings suggest that a neo-Gramscian approach to understanding politics and power in sustainable energy transitions offers useful insights for policymakers, incumbent and renewable energy firms, and civil society organisations who seek to accelerate the decarbonisation of electricity generation