The roles of communities and local authorities in the GB sustainable energy transition : a commons and multi-stakeholder governance perspective.

This research explores local energy initiatives through the theoretical frameworks of commons and polycentric (multi-stakeholder) governance, as theorised by the Ostrom workshop (Ostrom, 1990; McGinnis, 2016). It uses five case studies, two at the neighbourhood, one at the city, and two at the bioregional spatial levels. At the neighbourhood level, the thesis explores the use of Ostrom’s design principles for common pool resources to design a neighbourhood flexible energy district. At the city and bioregional levels, it explores the evolution of polycentric institutions in a mature community energy sector and active local government. It also explores the challenge of including valuing within the commons and polycentric governance paradigm. This thesis establishes that energy can usefully be framed as a commons: it is a resource that can be consumed, and one where exclusion of users is problematic. There are positive externalities of universal access to energy; there are negative externalities for the environment; and the infrastructure is at risk of monopoly rent-seeking. In a neighbourhood context, the research finds that supportive community accountability for consumption would be welcome, but that this must respect privacy and individual autonomy. At the city and bioregional scales, it finds that strong shared vision, coordination and collaboration between multiple organisations, individuals and sectors are essential to progress. It also finds that the fragmentation between the governance of the incumbent energy industry and the civic energy sector is a barrier to the transition needed to meet national carbon targets. Finally, a set of ‘design principles’ for commons-based polycentric governance of energy systems are proposed, tested in relation to the case studies, and revisited following analysis, with implications for policy, industry and the civic energy sector. These include a mixed system with a greater role for commons, nested governance, diversity of institutions and protecting equality and the environment