13. Conclusion

Excerpt

The overarching research question of this study was how can social innovations in community energy projects explain energy system change in the electricity sector? Energy system change towards more sustainable infrastructures involves both a shift in the resource base and related ways of generating and consuming power. But it also involves new organizational paradigms for public utilities referring to their ownership and operations. Analysis has shown that the concept of social innovations offers insights into the changes to underlying values of the energy system. These interpretive frames guide the experience and performance of energy services, as well as corresponding structures governing decision-making and service provision in the energy system. By reframing energy infrastructures corresponding to shared values of community, ownership, responsibility and empowerment, this study has shown that community energy projects give rise to distinct forms of energy system change. Focusing on innovation biographies of an organizational form offers insights into how technological innovations feature in socio-cultural developments, rather than choosing to understand socio-cultural features as the background to technological development. …