Energy Citizenship: Social-institutional Dynamics of Next-Phase Energy Transition in Europe

The ongoing energy transition involves technological innovations as well as innovations in social relations, organisational forms, business models, institutions and governance arrangements. An increasingly used concept that gives expression to this is energy citizenship (ENCI). In its basic definition, it indicates a shift from energy consumerism towards more active, politically engaged, ways of acting in the energy system (Devine-Wright 2007). Energy citizenship refers to “forms of civic involvement that pertain to the development of a more sustainable and democratic energy system. Beyond its manifest forms, energy citizenship (ENCI) also comprises various latent forms: it is an ideal that can be lived up to and realised to varying degrees, according to different framework conditions and states of empowerment” (Pel et al. 2021:64). Based on this definition, it is evident that ENCI may be associated with an understanding of good, desirable civic action. However, unlike other, more institutionalised forms of citizenship - with defined rights and duties - ENCI (and associated notions of good citizenship) are usually unspecified. ENCI is not directly observable. It is a new imaginary of civic agency in the energy system, a new governmentality that circumscribes desired roles of citizens, governments and organisations. It is, just as citizenship more generally, a phenomenon that is communicatively performed (Fairclough et al. 2013). It therefore calls for critical, reflexive analysis that accounts for these processes of social construction (Silvast & Valkenburg 2023; Lennon & Dunphy 2023). Yet this need for critical analysis should not mean that research should limit itself to deconstruction and critical reflection. This paper takes up the challenge to articulate the systemic, transformative significance of ENCI. Whilst it is often assumed casually that ENCI contributes to the energy transition (Wahlund & Palm 2022; Schlindwein & Montalvo 2023), it remains largely unclear how, under which conditions and through which innovation processes this takes place. Furthermore, many of these analyses fail to deal with the state-of-the-art in sustainability transitions research – whilst inversely, much transitions research neglects the longstanding scholarly traditions that have dealt with citizenship and its complexities (Dobson & Valencia 2013; Ekman & Amnå 2012). Our explorative research question is therefore: What is the significance of energy citizenship for the energy transition? Building on empirical data gathered in Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, France and Belgium, our analysis elicits five key transitions dynamics. Combining empirical observations and conceptual advances, our analysis addresses 1) the kinds of innovation and associated dynamics in terms of ‘niche’ and ‘regime’ structures; 2) the kinds of actor constellations behind ENCI initiatives, and the innovation ecosystems and intermediaries involved; 3) the inclusion and empowerment of various groups of citizens and the associated roles of ‘frontrunners’ and ‘laggards’ in energy transition; 4) the context factors through which ENCI develops in the various aforementioned countries, i.e. the so-called ‘landscape’ factors in transitions theory and 5) the dynamics through which ENCI either scales and institutionalises, or runs into adverse dynamics of ‘backlash’.