The (in)visible Grid: Households’ Sensemaking of a Changing Power System

Abstract

Background In affluent countries, essential infrastructures like power systems are often taken for granted and thus invisible to ordinary people. However, because of energy transitions and climate impacts, the power system in countries such as Sweden is changing. For example, variable renewable power sources and increasing demand call for a potential need to be able to deal with changing conditions including disruptions at an end-use level, which makes the energy system come to the foreground. As argued in the paper, deeper knowledge about people’s sensemaking of a changing energy system is needed to support households in taking new roles. In this study, 12 interviews were conducted with people from 7 households in detached houses in Sweden participating in a trial with remote-controlled heat pumps.The aim was to investigate how householders make sense of the changing power system and possible power deficit scenarios in the future. Social representations theory and the concept of household energy resilience were used as theoretical lenses.Results Householders direct their understanding of power deficiency and changes in power supply at four different levels: household level, supplier level, national system level, and finally as a shared responsibility between the three. These insights reveal opportunities where households anticipate taking more active roles in a changing enery system – however they also identify responsibilities that other energy actors need to communicate clearly that they are taking on, to support households and the energy transition overall.Conclusions Our results show that there is potential for more active and engaged electricity end-users, beyond for example flexibility programs. However, households’ active participation, including becoming more energy resilient, is conditioned by challenges of value, involvement, and reciprocity, which are important to address as households are opening the “black box” that is the power system. The results will be of interest to professionals involved in electricity supply-related matters including suppliers, policymakers, and researchers.