Abstract
Emerging decentralised electricity systems require new approaches to energy governance. As energy sources shift and technology evolves, electricity governance is shifting from largely centralized models to include multiple decentralised and multi-level sites not bounded in their operations by established democratic processes. New forms of accountability are required to ensure that multi-level electricity systems meet societal needs and expectations. While multi-level governance dynamics are new for many electricity systems, they are common across other resources (e.g. water). This article uses an OECD framework that synthesizes decades of research on multi-level natural resource governance to describe 12 principles for “good” resource governance. These principles are developed and applied to decentralising electricity governance contexts in order to develop mechanisms, and identify potential governance gaps, that are relevant for ensuring accountability in decentralised electricity governance systems. The nature of decentralised electricity systems particularly highlights the need to rescale many governance functions, while paying attention to issues of inclusion, capacity building, coherence, adaptiveness, and transparency.
Highlights
Decentralisation is a defining feature of the ongoing energy transition
The objective of this paper is to draw upon insights from decentralised natural resource governance contexts to develop mechanisms, and identify potential governance gaps, that are relevant for ensuring accountability in decentralised electricity governance systems
This paper draws upon the rich literature on accountability in nested, multi-level and participatory water governance systems to develop mechanisms, and identify potential governance gaps, relevant for decentralised electricity governance
Summary
Decentralisation is a defining feature of the ongoing energy transition. Fuelled by falling technology costs, rising concern over climate change, and social innovation opportunities, electricity generation in particular is moving away from largely predominant centralized models [1].1 While decentralisation presents many technical, environmental and social opportunities [2e4], it introduces governance challenges [5,6]. This paper draws upon the rich literature on accountability in nested, multi-level and participatory water governance systems to develop mechanisms, and identify potential governance gaps, relevant for decentralised electricity governance. It first establishes the basis e and limitations e for comparing water and electricity resource governance systems for the purposes of ensuring accountability. It reviews the concept of “accountability” in the context of nested, multi-level and participatory governance. The article closes with an overview of relevant mechanisms and gaps
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