Beyond the consumer: Using citizen-led deliberation to reshape energy policy and governance

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£5,895,425

Sept. 30, 2020

Sept. 30, 2025

Global carbon emissions must decline rapidly to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change. Independent government advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, recently stated that the UK should reach net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. This means that the UK's emissions of greenhouse gases should not exceed its ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Achieving this target will mean far-reaching changes to the economy, and to the way that people live in their homes, and travel. Yet so far, as the Committee notes, "To date, much of the success in reducing UK emissions has been invisible to the public... reaching net-zero emissions will require more involvement from people."

A crucial challenge over the coming decade, then, will be to find ways to encourage and enable people to contribute to this shift to zero-carbon. This proposal looks at one crucial aspect of this shift. It examines how the energy system could be managed better, to achieve these climate change goals, and to make the most of the innovation in energy products and services. Such innovation includes the decentralisation of energy generation technologies, integration between heat, electricity and transport technologies, and increasing digitalisation and data-driven services.

The project looks in particular at how to improve governance of the energy system. Governance is defined as the rules, regulations and institutions that govern the way the system is run. At the moment, in energy governance, individuals are understood primarily as 'consumers' of electricity, gas and transport fuel. Yet innovative technologies and business models give individuals the opportunity to shift away from a passive consumption role, to instead generate and store their own power, adjust how much electricity they take from the grid, and reduce their demand. This project examines how governance can be reshaped, to make the most of this innovation, and to support and build engagement for rapid carbon reduction.

The project will learn from existing case studies of innovation, to develop a series of proposals, or 'Pathways', which describe how the future energy system could be governed. These Pathways will be discussed at a set of deliberative workshops. The workshops will allow representative groups of citizens to debate the future of the energy system together with businesses, and regulators and government organisations who manage the system. At the workshops, these three groups will discuss ways in which the energy system could be governed, and work together to propose new policies and approaches. Comparisons will also be made with other regions and countries, including Denmark, Sweden and the US states of California and New York.

The evidence from the project will be used by project partners the Committee on Climate Change and the Energy Systems Catapult, as well as other organisations, to develop the advice that they give to government. Businesses will also be able to use the evidence to test and develop new business models. The research will develop guidelines for involving people in decisions about energy governance, based on the experience of the deliberative workshops. These guidelines will also inform the work of project partners and other organisations. Ultimately, the project aims to find ways to better engage citizens in rapid carbon reduction, in order to achieve the UK's energy and climate goals.

Potential Impact:
This project contributes directly to achieving the UK's energy and climate objectives, specifically, the carbon reduction targets enshrined in the Climate Change Act, and the commitment in the Industrial Strategy to develop smart energy systems. The project will provide evidence on the ways in which individuals can be incentivised to reduce carbon emissions, through better governance of the energy system. This evidence will be used to help government and government agencies develop better policies and regulatory mechanisms. It will also produce guidelines for deliberative processes, new ways of involving citizens directly in the development of policy and governance.

The project has been developed as a collaboration between the academic research community and government and business stakeholders. There are two core Impact Partners, both of whom have been involved in the development of the proposal. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) have noted a need to engage citizens in achieving rapid carbon reductions, and the project will provide evidence on how this can be done, to feed into the CCC's Annual Progress Report to Parliament. The Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) supports innovative businesses, and as part of this remit, requires evidence on the ways in which individuals engage in energy innovations. The project will support the work of the ESC's Consumer Insights Team, as well as informing its advice to government, through its Strategy and Policy function.

Beyond the core impact partners, the following groups will benefit from the project:

1) UK businesses, particularly energy and ICT businesses, who are developing new business models for energy products and services. It will benefit these businesses directly, through providing evidence on the ways in which people respond to, and engage in, innovations in the energy system, such as IT-enabled energy services. Indirectly, the project will contribute to better governance of the energy system, which will aid further innovation.

2) Governance organisations, including regulators such as Ofgem (see letter of support), the National Infrastructure Commission, the department for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy, and Members of Parliament engaged in energy and climate governance issues (see letter of support from the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group). These organisations will benefit from evidence on the ways in which individuals respond to policy and governance strategies. This evidence can be used in developing policy positions, and in policymaking directly.

3) Third sector organisations involved in energy and climate governance, such as Green Alliance and Citizens' Advice (see letters of support). The evidence that this project generates can be used by these organisations to advocate new approaches to energy and climate governance.

These groups will be reached through specialist press, a social media strategy, project events and one-to-one meetings, as detailed in the Pathways to Impact document. The project team will also respond to relevant government consultations and parliamentary inquiries.

In addition to these core audiences, the project team will engage with the wider public, using the short film developed as part of the project as an outreach tool, to stimulate discussion about our changing energy system, and the need to meet energy goals and targets. Audiences will include schools, environment and energy groups, and civil society groups such as the University of the Third Age. Each member of the project team will have a target of two such outreach activities per year.

Impact activities will be run by the project team, with support from Lancaster University's Enterprise and Business Partnership team, Impact teams and media officers.