Telling tales: using stories to remake energy policy

From laissez-faire to intervention: Analysing policy narratives on interoperability standards for the smart grid in the United States

“…Dozens of experts said in interviews that there were simply too many players, both commercial and governmental, and too many conflicting interests." [50] The policy narrative that emerged from the White House and echoed by NIST itself had clear elements of the technological hero story [6]. It described a situation to be remedied: an aging electricity grid, plagued by blackouts and modernization hampered by an electric utility industry composed by stand-alone "silos", unable to communicate with each other, a veritable "tower of Babel".…”

“…Janda & Topouzi [6] have found that energy policy stories often lack convincing characters (2015, p. 517). Is NIST the hero, uniquely placed and able to act as an "honest broker", proving that the government can act as "catalyst" in partnership with industry?…”

“…As such they can help get the policy message out and to build support for it, but this strength is also a shortcoming. Janda and Topouzi [6] show how the features of the hero story in particular have been used to communicate energy policy and that there is often a discrepancy between the promises of such a story and the policy outcome in the "real world". They recommend that such accounts be balanced by the use of "learning stories", which take into account the complexity of policy problems, the limits of what can be achieved, and the nature of the effort required.…”

“…The most common narrative follows a simplified version of the epic hero's journey ( [53], cited in Ref. [6]). In the epic form, the protagonist answers "the call" and finds itself, often in a parallel world, confronting a number of enemies and/or obstacles.…”

“…The analysis shows that the US policy discourse on smart grid standardization, while rooted in existing policy on standards as market-driven, draws on a range of discourses to legitimate intervention. Finally, it considers how this policy narrative that emerged displayed many features of the technological hero story [6] and discusses the limits of this type of story in light of the findings. While succeeding in making a strong argument for government intervention in smart grid standardization, the narrative developed in policy documents can be criticized for over-simplification and for failure to outline a practical policy alternative beyond a five-year plan.…”