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The electric commons: A qualitative study of community accountability

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  • Melville, Emilia
  • Christie, Ian
  • Burningham, Kate
  • Way, Celia
  • Hampshire, Phil

Abstract

This study explores how energy might be conceptualised as a commons, a resource owned and managed by a community with a system of rules for production and consumption. It tests one aspect of Elinor Ostrom's design principles for successful management of common pool resources: that there should be community accountability for individual consumption behaviour. This is explored through interviews with participants in a community demand response (DR) trial in an urban neighbourhood in the UK. Domestic DR can make a contribution to balancing electricity supply and demand. This relies on smart meters, which raise vertical (individual to large organisation) privacy concerns. Community and local approaches could motivate greater levels of DR than price signals alone. We found that acting as part of a community is motivating, a conclusion which supports local and community based roll out of smart meters. Mutually supportive, voluntary, and anonymous sharing of information was welcomed. However, mutual monitoring was seen as an invasion of horizontal (peer to peer) privacy. We conclude that the research agenda, which asks whether local commons-based governance of electricity systems could provide social and environmental benefits, is worth pursuing further. This needs a shift in regulatory barriers and ‘governance-system neutral’ innovation funding.

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  • Melville, Emilia & Christie, Ian & Burningham, Kate & Way, Celia & Hampshire, Phil, 2017. "The electric commons: A qualitative study of community accountability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 12-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:106:y:2017:i:c:p:12-21
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.03.035
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    7. Cristina Acosta & Mariana Ortega & Till Bunsen & Binod Prasad Koirala & Amineh Ghorbani, 2018. "Facilitating Energy Transition through Energy Commons: An Application of Socio-Ecological Systems Framework for Integrated Community Energy Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, January.
    8. Müller, Simon C. & Welpe, Isabell M., 2018. "Sharing electricity storage at the community level: An empirical analysis of potential business models and barriers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 492-503.
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    10. Jantzen, Jan & Kristensen, Michael & Christensen, Toke Haunstrup, 2018. "Sociotechnical transition to smart energy: The case of Samso 1997–2030," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 20-34.
    11. Zbysław Dobrowolski & Łukasz Sułkowski, 2021. "Business Model Canvas and Energy Enterprises," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-10, November.
    12. Carol Vigurs & Chris Maidment & Michael Fell & David Shipworth, 2021. "Customer Privacy Concerns as a Barrier to Sharing Data about Energy Use in Smart Local Energy Systems: A Rapid Realist Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-33, February.
    13. Schlesewsky Lisa, 2018. "Think small – Das deutsche Stromnetz als Hindernis für die Energiewende," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 69(1), pages 309-338, July.
    14. Jianing Li & Zhentong Hu & Di Liu & Leshan Jin, 2024. "Different Paths Lead to the Same Success: Examining Design Principles in Grassland Collective Governance in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, November.
    15. Grimley, Matthew & Chan, Gabriel, 2023. "“Cooperative is an oxymoron!”: A polycentric energy transition perspective on distributed energy deployment in the Upper Midwestern United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    16. Majid Hashemi & Glenn Jenkins, 2021. "The Economic Benefits of Mitigating the Risk of Unplanned Power Outages," Working Paper 1468, Economics Department, Queen's University.
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    18. Wolsink, Maarten, 2020. "Distributed energy systems as common goods: Socio-political acceptance of renewables in intelligent microgrids," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    19. Penelope Buckley & Daniel Llerena, 2022. "Nudges and peak pricing: A common pool resource energy conservation experiment," Post-Print hal-03765755, HAL.

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