Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Governing Energy Transitions: Transition Goals in the Swiss Energy Sector

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Energy and Finance

Abstract

European countries are currently committing to energy transitions so as to make the supply of electricity more sustainable. In this chapter we present our theoretical extension of a transition framework with the concepts of power, agency and politics in order to study the governance challenges of energy transitions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the application of our extended framework to a case in the Swiss energy sector. We focus on analyzing the distribution and gradual concentration of power within the sector and its implications for the energy transition. We conclude that the promotion of renewable energy through subsidization leads to a price scissor effect that squeezes small Swiss utilities out of the market by lowering electricity consumption and wholesale prices, while increasing self-production by households. The power increasingly lies with several large utilities, cities and cantons that are currently committing to ambitious energy transition goals. Such a concentration of power and alignment of goals can help in accelerating the energy transition in Switzerland.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Institutions are defined as (1) informal rules such as customs, traditions, norms and religion, and (2) formal rules such as laws and property rights (North 1991, p. 97).

  2. 2.

    Power is defined as (1) power-over “A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do” (Dahl 1957, p. 203), and (2) power-to “the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance” (Weber 1978, p. 53).

  3. 3.

    Agency is defined as “the ability to take action and make a difference over a course of events.” (Giddens 1984, p. 14).

  4. 4.

    Konferenz Kantonaler Energiedirectoren.

  5. 5.

    Broadly speaking, the pro-growth coalition is in favor of economic growth, while the pro-ecology coalition is in favor of environmental protection.

References

  • Arapostathis S, Carlsson-Hyslop A, Pearson PJ, Thornton J, Gradillas M, Laczay S, Wallis S (2013) Governing transitions: cases and insights from two periods in the history of the UK gas industry. Energy Policy 52:25–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avelino F (2011) Power in transition: empowering discourses on sustainability transitions. Doctoral dissertation, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Rotterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Avelino F, Rotmans J (2009) Power in transition: an interdisciplinary framework to study power in relation to structural change. Eur J Soc Theory 12(4):543–569

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broto VC, Glendinning S, Dewberry E, Walsh C, Powell M (2014) What can we learn about transitions for sustainability from infrastructure shocks? Technol Forecast Soc Change 84(1):186–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chappin ÉJL (2011) Simulating energy transitions. Doctoral dissertation, Delft University of Technology, Delft

    Google Scholar 

  • City of Zurich (2011) On the way to the 2000-watt society. City of Zürich, Zürich

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl RA (1957) The concept of power. Behav Sci 2(3):201–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ElCom (2015) Tätigkeitsbericht der ElCom 2014. ElCom, Bern

    Google Scholar 

  • Finger M, Groenwegen J, Kunneke R (2005) Quest for coherence between institutions and technologies in infrastructures. Compet Regul Netw Ind 6(4):227–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Finon D, Perez Y (2007) The social efficiency of instruments of promotion of renewable energies: a transaction-cost perspective. Ecol Econ 62(1):77–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frantzeskaki N, de Haan H (2009) Transitions: two steps from theory to policy. Futures 41(9):593–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frei H, Ruch N (2015) Kostendeckende Einspeisevergüting (KEV): Anmeldestatistik. Stiftung KEV, Frick

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuenfschilling L, Truffer B (2014) The structuration of socio-technical regimes—conceptual foundations from institutional theory. Res Policy 43(4):772–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geels FW (2002) Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study. Res Policy 31(8):1257–1274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geels FW (2005) Processes and patterns in transitions and system innovations: refining the co-evolutionary multi-level perspective. Technol Forecast Soc Change 72(6):681–696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geels FW (2014) Regime resistance against low-carbon transitions: introducing politics and power into the multi-level perspective. Theory Cult Soc 31(5):21–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geels FW, Schot J (2007) Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways. Res Policy 36(3):399–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens A (1984) The constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration. University of California Press, California

    Google Scholar 

  • Grünewald PH, Cockerill TT, Contestabile M, Pearson PJ (2012) The socio-technical transition of distributed electricity storage into future networks—system value and stakeholder views. Energy Policy 50:449–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haugaard M (2010) Power: a family resemblance concept. Eur J Cult Stud 13(4):419–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hess DJ (2013) Industrial fields and countervailing power: the transformation of distributed solar energy in the United States. Glob Environ Chang 23(5):847–855

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Energy Agency (2012) Energy policies of IEA countries: Switzerland 2012 review. International Energy Agency, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemp R, Schot J, Hoogma R (1998) Regime shifts to sustainability through processes of niche formation: the approach of strategic niche management. Technol Anal Strateg Manage 10(2):175–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kern F (2012) The discursive politics of governing transitions towards sustainability: the UK carbon trust. Int J Sustain Dev 15(1–2):90–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kriesi H, Jegen M (2001) The Swiss energy policy elite: the actor constellation of a policy domain in transition. Eur J Polit Res 39(2):251–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Laes E, Gorissen L, Nevens F (2014) A comparison of energy transition governance in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Sustainability 6(3):1129–1152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lange P, Driessen PP, Sauer A, Bornemann B, Burger P (2013) Governing towards sustainability—conceptualizing modes of governance. J Environ Policy Plan 15(3):403–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langlois RN, Robertson PL (2002) Firms, markets and economic change: a dynamic theory of business institutions. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawhon M, Murphy JT (2012) Socio-technical regimes and sustainability transitions Insights from political ecology. Prog Hum Geogr 36(3):354–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markard J, Truffer B (2008) Technological innovation systems and the multi-level perspective: towards an integrated framework. Res Policy 37(4):596–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markard J, Raven R, Truffer B (2012) Sustainability transitions: an emerging field of research and its prospects. Res Policy 41(6):955–967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markard J, Suter M, Ingold K (2015) Socio-technical transitions and policy change – advocacy coalitions in Swiss energy policy. SPRU Work Pap Ser (SWPS) 13:1–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Meadowcroft J (2009) What about the politics? Sustainable development, transition management, and long term energy transitions. Policy Sci 42(4):323–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson RR, Winter SG (1982) An evolutionary theory of economic change. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • North DC (1990) Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • North DC (1991) Institutions. J Econ Perspect 5(1):97–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rip A, Kemp R (1998) Technological change. Battelle, Battelle

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotmans J, Kemp R, Van Asselt M (2001) More evolution than revolution: transition management in public policy. Foresight 3(1):15–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schot J (1998) The usefulness of evolutionary models for explaining innovation. The case of the Netherlands in the nineteenth century. Hist Technol Int J 3:173–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scrase I, Smith A (2009) The (non-) politics of managing low carbon socio-technical transitions. Environ Polit 18(5):707–726

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith A, Stirling A, Berkhout F (2005) The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions. Res Policy 34(10):1491–1510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith A, Voß JP, Grin J (2010) Innovation studies and sustainability transitions: the allure of the multi-level perspective and its challenges. Res Policy 39(4):435–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stadt Bern (2015) Energie- und Klimastrategie 2025 Stadt Bern. Stadt Bern, Bern

    Google Scholar 

  • Swiss Federal Office of Energy (2014) Schweizerische Elektrizitätsstatistik 2013. Swiss Federal Office of Energy, Bern

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsebelis G (2000) Veto players and institutional analysis. Governance 13(4):441–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyfield D (2014) Putting the power in ‘socio-technical regimes’–E-mobility transition in China as political process. Mobilities 9(4):585–603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Unruh GC (2002) Escaping carbon lock-in. Energy Policy 30(4):317–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verbong G, Geels F (2007) The ongoing energy transition: lessons from a socio-technical, multi-level analysis of the Dutch electricity system (1960–2004). Energy Policy 35(2):1025–1037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voß JP, Bornemann B (2011) The politics of reflexive governance: challenges for designing adaptive management and transition management. Ecol Soc 16(2):9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber M (1978) Economy and society: an outline of interpretive sociology (E. Fischoff et al., trans.). University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson OE (1985) The economic institutions of capitalism: firms, markets, relational contracting. The Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson OE (1996) The mechanisms of governance. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson OE (1998) The institutions of governance. Am Econ Rev 88(2):75–79

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by the Swiss Competence Center for Research in Energy, Society and Transition (SCCER CREST). The authors acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions of Yannick Perez, Gianluigi Viscusi and two anonymous reviewers.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management of Network Industries, College of Management of Technology, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Reinier Verhoog & Matthias Finger

Authors
  1. Reinier Verhoog
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthias Finger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Reinier Verhoog .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    André Dorsman

  2. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Özgür Arslan-Ayaydin

  3. Business Administration, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Mehmet Baha Karan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Verhoog, R., Finger, M. (2016). Governing Energy Transitions: Transition Goals in the Swiss Energy Sector. In: Dorsman, A., Arslan-Ayaydin, Ö., Karan, M. (eds) Energy and Finance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32268-1_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation