The state of municipal energy transitions: Multi-scalar constraints and enablers of Europe’s post-carbon energy ambitions

Abstract

There is increasing enthusiasm at urban and municipal scales for leading sustainability transitions, amid higher level endorsement and even expectation of such leadership. Yet this downscaling of responsibility for transition requires a greater critical focus. It raises questions of how evenly spread the capacity to lead on this is, and how it relates to the complex and differentiated multi-scalar governance structures and political landscapes within which municipal actors are situated. This article draws upon evidence from a mixed methods comparative and multi-scalar analysis across Europe exploring the different pressures and potential that exist for municipalities. Our central aim is to critically interrogate what municipalities are doing to achieve a post-carbon energy transition beyond lofty aspirations. Departing from the tendency to focus on paradigmatic success stories, our research on the different conditions affecting municipalities across the continent suggests that the focus so far on case studies and techno-social solutions is insufficient for considering the broader geographical patterns and multi-scalar tensions of transition. Our findings suggest that while municipalities are alive to the opportunities to lead on sustainability transitions, we need a clearer understanding of the ways that policy and politics at national and international scales shape political capacities for action. There are clear limits to independent municipal action, particularly without more supportive interventions at higher scales. The increased urgency for sustainability transitions requires far more multi-scalar and trans-local coordination than that exists at present, although the building blocks of such work may be beginning to emerge.

The role of municipal ownership for urban net-zero path creation

“…Until the privatization of Robin Hood Energy in 2018 due to overwhelming debts, Robin Hood Energy was a municipallyowned ESCO established in 2013 by Nottingham City Council. Despite this scheme not surviving the energy market dominated by an oligopoly of the big six private energy utilities (Traill and Cumbers, 2022), the establishment of Robin Hood Energy was a deliberate attempt by the actors within the City Council to provide a domestic supplier of electricity and gas, whilst at the same time, tackle fuel poverty, which has been a persistent problem in Nottingham and the wider UK. The formulation of the ESCo was fueled by limited competition in the energy market in the East Midlands area, a poor representation of existing energy suppliers, a disengaged base of residents and a high number of Nottingham residents on prepayment meters-all of which Robin Hood Energy sought to address from its establishment (Interview with Robin Hood Energy).…”

Are peripheral regions in troubled waters for sustainability transitions? A systematic analysis of the literature

“…It is commonly accepted that while environmental issues are a global societal challenge, policy action should be conceived and delivered also at lower spatial scales, including the national, regional and local levels (Fenton and Gustafsson, 2017; Reed and Bruyneel, 2010). Hence, virtually all around the world, climate action has sprung up in many cities and regions – ranging from greening energy systems and introducing cleaner technologies to seeking wider transitions towards more sustainable production and consumption modes (Gibbs and O’Neill, 2017; Traill and Cumbers, 2023; United Nations, 2017).…”