Misalignments of theory and practice: Exploring Swedish energy utilities’ understandings of energy justice, flexibility capital, and just energy transitions

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2024

Ensuring that the existing social inequalities of the current energy system are not transferred to the new system is crucial for the transition towards a low-carbon economy. This is the domain of energy justice—a normative and evaluative framework that has been applied extensively throughout the past decade for understanding the perspective of disadvantaged energy users. However, less attention has been paid to the perspectives of supply-side actors, such as energy utilities, and their understanding of energy justice. The purpose of this study is to explore how Swedish energy utilities perceive themselves and their roles in a just energy transition. The research scrutinizes their understanding of energy justice and user flexibility. To answer these questions, 24 semi-structured interviews with representatives of prominent actors in the energy sector actors were analyzed by use of narrative analysis. The results constitute four archetypes—the System Operator, the Analyst, the Flexibility Advocate, and the Entrepreneur—each of them placing unique emphasis on social issues and the role of user flexibility in future energy systems. These diverging views on a just energy transition should not be regarded as mutually exclusive but rather as complementary since a just transition should encompass all perspectives. However, this study concludes that to remedy the misalignment between the theory and practice of energy justice, the energy sector would benefit from adopting roles that to a greater extent emphasize social equity. Future research should also investigate the extent to which energy utilities may be held accountable for energy injustices.