What drives opposition to high-voltage transmission lines?

Cain, Nicholas; Nelson, Hal T.

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.01.003

Cited by 84 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…wave and tidal energy; shale gas) also fit these consistent general/local patterns of results. Second, rather than conceiving the general-local 'gap' to be an anomaly or inconsistency amongst publics [42,47,48], future research should systematically investigate the reasons why 'conditional acceptance' [19] occurs -in essence to investigate the relative importance of personal, place and project specific elements (e.g. place attachments, perceived local impacts and benefits, trust in the developer, procedural justice) -that collectively determine to what extent general public acceptance of an energy source or technology may or may not 'translate' into acceptability of a locality sited energy project.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public beliefs about high-voltage powerlines in Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom: A comparative survey

Aas

Devine‐Wright

Tangeland³

et al. 2014

Energy Research & Social Science

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As countries worldwide, and particularly in Europe, move to increase deployment of low carbon energy sources, significant investments in new transmission networks are planned.However, past cases of public opposition -both to power line siting and large-scale renewable energy projects -indicate the importance of understanding public beliefs and acceptance, and using such knowledge to inform policy making and planning. This study conducted a comparative analysis of public beliefs across three European countries (UK, Norway and Sweden) drawing on representative samples of adults in each context (total n=5107). Findings show significant differences between countries, notably lower levels of acceptance and trust in the UK, but also similarities, for example that local residents are considered to have little involvement in planning-and decision-making processes. The results indicate two important principles: that acceptance can be empirically distinguished from support, and that general acceptance of energy projects is higher than local acceptance.Potential geographical, socio-historical and political explanations for the results are proposed and future research needs recommended.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public beliefs about high-voltage powerlines in Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom: A comparative survey

Aas

Devine‐Wright

Tangeland³

et al. 2014

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…Wüstenhagen et al (2007) relate community acceptance of renewable energy technologies to 'procedural justice', 'distributive justice' and 'trust'. This approach to justice and trust describes well the identified public participation challenges and local perspectives on energy development projects (King et al 1998, Gross, 2007Cain & Nelson 2013). 'Distributive justice' concerns fairness in the outcome, that is the distribution of costs and benefits (for more details about distributive justice see for instance Skitka et al 2003, Gross 2007, whereas 'procedural justice' refers to general principles of citizen control, democracy and fairness in the process within which decisions are reached (Smith and McDonough 2001).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectives On Public Participation and Justicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Social science literature has investigated challenges related to local opposition to energy projects including the importance of the planning and siting process (Sovacool et al 2012;Cain & Nelson 2013). Long-lasting local conflicts suggest that the traditional top-down approach to grid development is becoming increasingly insufficient, and call for increased and improved public involvement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local perceptions of opportunities for engagement and procedural justice in electricity transmission grid projects in Norway and the UK

et al. 2015

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Transmission lines are critical infrastructures, but frequently contested especially at the local level, by local communities. The role of public engagement in processes pertaining to specific transmission line projects is an under-researched, yet important topic that this paper seeks to discuss by investigating how inhabitants perceive these processes and to what extent they find the processes just and fair. This paper addresses the participatory aspects of the planning process, as perceived by the local inhabitants in four Norway and UK cases, by using a qualitative comparative case study design. We further analyse this issue through frameworks of public engagement and procedural justice. In both countries public engagement is largely characterized by perceptions of insufficient information, and insufficient influence on the process. In sum, the findings indicate that the informants generally perceive the opportunities for involvement as insufficient and unjust. The findings are quite similar across all cases and both countries. Local inhabitants represent diverse groups who often have different levels of knowledge, time and engagement to bring to the planning process. Their requests for improved processes thus underline the serious public engagement challenges that applicants and decision-makers face. Cover Letter 1'Local perceptions of opportunities for engagement and procedural justice in electricity transmission grid projects in Norway and the UK' Report on the editing accord. to reviewers' commments:Reviewer #1: Thanks a lot for the opportunity for reviewing this well written drafted article on a topic that has not previously been very well covered in academic journals. Work on public engagement and acceptance is available, but very few has done such an excellent work through the lenses of procedural justice. I find it very valid to apply the key aspects chosen and then to apply these on the empirical findings from Norway and the UK. Well done. This article should be published A.S.A.P. The only minor comment is the final reference to the National Public Debate Commission (NPDC)employed in a French-Spanish transmission line. It could have been interesting to learn whether such a NPDC could influence the assessment of the key aspects chosen to assess procedural justics, but I guess that this is beyond the scope of the article... Response:We have strengthened the reference to the mentioned study. See last sentence in the concluding part, under section 6 Discussion: This knowledge will contribute to a broader understanding of procedural justice as an important dimension of the wider energy justice research field, which is of crucial importance for the further decarbonization of the European energy system.Reviewer #2: This is a very good article-it addresses an important topic, uses a sound methodology, and is well written. It is almost ready to publishing, meaning my recommendation is to accept the piece with a few minor revisions.First, I like how the piece situates itself at the nexus of electrici...

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“…In addition, although such approaches could help reduce the level of conflict, they may not necessarily be desirable from an environmental sustainability point of view as they are generally short-term approaches without a sustainability and intertemporal rationale. Therefore, the above economic instruments can be more effective when used within a high level environmental strategy that links the individual and community interests to an overarching social policy and public decision rule and process (see Cain and Nelson, 2013). Given the above reasoning, we propose an economics informed environmental sustainability approach as the basis for a coherent and comprehensive decision framework.…”

Section: A Sustainability Approach To Grid Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Solution that Might Have Been: Resolving Social Conflict in Deliberations about Future Electricity Grid Development

Tobiasson

Jamasb

2016

Energy Research & Social Science

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Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Increasingly, local opposition to new electricity grid developments cause lengthy delays and places financial and practical strain on the projects. The structure of the electricity industry is in transition due to the emergence of smaller but more numerous generation facilities. Also, the wider society and local communities increasingly engage with energy and environmental issues. At the same time, the traditional decision making frameworks and processes are proving less effective in solving the present time conflicts between local communities and other stakeholders. This paper proposes an economic approach to resolve such conflicts. We discuss how compensation, benefit sharing, and property rights can have a role in reducing community opposition to grid developments. However, we argue that these methods need to be part of an overarching policy towards conflict resolution in grid development. We then propose that such impacts can be addressed within the framework of 'weak' versus 'strong' sustainability. Finally, we suggest that the concepts of 'collective negotiation' and 'menu of options' in regulatory economics can be adapted to operationalise the suggested sustainability-based approach to arrive at more efficient and socially desirable outcomes. The proposed framework can lead to the identification of socially acceptable outcomes that could otherwise have gone undetected.

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What drives opposition to high-voltage transmission lines?

Cited by 84 publications

References 29 publications

Public beliefs about high-voltage powerlines in Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom: A comparative survey

Public beliefs about high-voltage powerlines in Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom: A comparative survey

Local perceptions of opportunities for engagement and procedural justice in electricity transmission grid projects in Norway and the UK

The Solution that Might Have Been: Resolving Social Conflict in Deliberations about Future Electricity Grid Development

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