Coalitions, framing, and the politics of energy transitions: Local democracy and community choice in California

Abstract

A significant topic of research in the analysis of the politics of sustainability transitions is the role of coalitions. This study builds on previous research that utilizes discourse coalition and framing theories to develop a method for analyzing coalitions that integrates the analysis of three, inter-related changes: the challenger-incumbent relationship, the internal composition of both types of coalitions, and the choices of frames. The study focuses on community choice aggregation (CCA) in California, which is a decades-long industrial transition movement that has contributed to local, democratic control over electricity in the state. The analysis shows how both the CCA-coalition and the utility coalition underwent changes in composition over time and how the changes were connected with frame innovation, with counterframing, and with different types of policy conflicts. Thus, the study develops a general framework for an integrated analysis of coalitions and frames that emphasizes the connected changes of coalitions and frames over time. The analysis shows how the changing discourse of energy-transition politics is connected with coalition composition, ongoing experimentation with counterframing, and the evolving challenger-incumbent relationship. For the pro-CCA coalition, frames regarding pricing benefits recede and are replaced with frames involving energy democracy, good government, and job creation.