Grid justice: Evaluating smart grids through the lens of Energy Justice within the European Union legal framework

Abstract

Smart grid benefits are typically categorized in three groups, respectively benefits for energy production and distribution companies, benefits for consumers, and benefits for all market participants and society at large. Energy Justice offers a theoretical framework in order to analyze and evaluate how this emerging technology addresses existing justice problems within the energy sector. The aim of this research is to evaluate how the benefits from the functionalities of smart grids affect current problems within the Energy Justice framework. It does so by researching the regulatory framework in the European Union for both smart grids and Energy Justice, and adopting a structure based on the nine identified Energy Justice problems by Sovacool and Dworkin, in order to provide a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the benefits of smart grids in relation to Energy Justice problems in the European Union. The first chapter analyzes the current regulatory framework for smart grids in the European Union, identifying the extent to which smart grids are regulated by hard laws, soft laws, and related regulatory acts in the European Union. The second chapter researches the emergence, development, and theoretical background of Energy Justice, as well as how Energy Justice problems are regulated in the European Union legal framework. The third chapter firstly categorizes and evaluates how the benefits from smart grid functionalities may address Energy Justice problems in the European Union, and secondly identifies regulatory gaps that may inhibit the positive impact of the benefits of smart grids for Energy Justice problems.