• Energy Research

<abstract> <p>This paper reviews circumstances where governance arrangements and organizational innovations assign value to carbon emission mitigations or energy demand reductions. The creation of such value hinges upon 1) the effective governance of financial mechanisms to create demand; and 2) the ability of organizations to assetize and supply carbon emission mitigations and energy demand reductions as commodified private goods. To analyse the political and organizational governance of such demand and supply systems, this paper uses insights from transaction cost economics. On the demand side, transaction costs are reduced through the innovative governance of markets at national level, such as white certificate markets for energy savings, and international level, such as baseline-and-credit systems for carbon emissions reductions. Strict rules regarding accountability, transparency, measurement, reporting, verification, and inclusion reduce transaction costs for organizations to assetize reductions and mitigations on the supply side. Despite limited success to date, these innovations provide the basis for international carbon emissions mitigation governance through climate clubs based on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This paper concludes that such clubs provide the basis for creating consistent demand for carbon emission mitigations and associated energy demand reductions through the positive pricing of mitigation actions.</p> </abstract>

It is widely acknowledged that the servitisation of energy retail has the potential to reduce costs and environmental impact. However, there persists a limited awareness of what market activities the energy service concept can translate into, especially in Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES). In this paper an analytical framework is developed, tested, and applied to help clarify the energy service concept, assess where its application is most appropriate in such systems, and facilitate a more strategic approach to value creation at both household and systems level to support the transition to net zero. First, we develop it through a content analysis of the energy service field's most cited papers. Second, we test its boundaries at household level through a round of interviews. Third, we demonstrate its relevance at the energy systems level by applying it in two SLES contexts. Its application revealed that focusing on value creation through material-centric energy services alone is unviable while their coordinated integration into SLES involving centralised data-centric activities creates a potential business case around network reinforcement savings and flexibility provision. For the energy service concept to succeed in the residential sector, such models require energy system integration to pay more attention to network characteristics.

The UK market for energy service contracts is expanding, owing in part to the emergence of intermediaries for those contracts in different parts of the public sector. These intermediaries combine a legal framework for establishing contracts with an organisational framework that facilitates contract negotiation and execution. This paper examines the nature and operation of these intermediaries in more detail, including their achievements to date and their similarities and differences. It uses ideas from transaction cost economics to develop a theoretical model of the contracting decision and shows how intermediary organisations can lower the transaction costs incurred by both clients and contractors, thereby increasing the viability of contracting. The paper argues that intermediaries can play an important role in expanding the market for energy service contracts, and hence in delivering cost-effective energy efficiency improvements throughout the public sector.

UK Feed-in Tariffs created a vibrant business ecosystem for the deployment of decentralised renewable energy technologies while constituting a regressive tax and increasing inequality. Business model innovation spurred by their withdrawal is providing valuable lessons for progressive policy design. Using the case study of solar PV deployment on multi-occupancy social housing, this paper reveals policy, business and organisational challenges that need to be overcome to address fuel poverty and reduce inequality. Suitable ‘export’ and ‘local’ business models were identified through a workshop and subsequently evaluated through qualitative thematic interview analysis. The ‘local’ model compares favourably in terms of production costs and benefits for fuel poor tenants but unfavourably in terms of transaction costs. Both models are considered equally susceptible to changes in policy. Their success hinges upon third party intermediaries, peer-to-peer learning and a supportive policy environment. This paper concludes with a policy recommendation to ensure that energy justice lies at the heart of the UK’s transition to net-zero carbon through the fair distribution of costs and benefits by including specific provisions to protect low-income groups.

This paper provides an overview of the UK market for energy service contracts in 2014 and highlights the growing role of intermediaries. Using information from secondary literature and interviews, it identifies the businesses offering energy service contracts, the sectors and organisations that are purchasing those contracts, the types of contract that are available, the areas of market growth and the reasons for that growth. The paper finds that the UK market is relatively large, highly diverse, concentrated in particular sectors and types of site and overwhelmingly focused upon established technologies with high rates of return. A major driver is the emergence of procurement frameworks for energy service contracts in the public sector. These act as intermediaries between clients and contractors, thereby lowering transaction costs and facilitating learning. The market is struggling to become established in commercial offices, largely as a result of split incentives, and is unlikely to develop further in this sector without different business models, tenancy arrangements and policy initiatives. Overall, the paper concludes that energy service contracts can play an important role in the transition to a low-carbon economy, especially when supported by intermediaries, but their potential is still limited by high transaction costs.

Municipalities aiming at mitigating climate change by implementing new energy efficiency technologies face budgetary and capacity constraints. Outsourcing through energy service contracting could provide a solution. This paper reports results from a survey of 1298 municipalities concerning barriers to retrofitting public street lighting and the possible role of energy service contracting to overcome these barriers. Using a logistic regression analysis, the authors investigate determinants of opting for energy service contracts in the specific context of LED retrofits. Results point to an advantage of outsourcing in a financially and capacity-constrained environment, which corresponds with the main reasons for engaging in contracting: minimising investments and financial risks. However, municipalities often do not fully grasp the risks associated with retrofitting especially using a novel technology such as LED. In relation to that they underestimate the risk reduction potential of energy performance contracts (EPC). Previous experience with outsourcing increases the probability to engage in servitization although certain existing partnerships, particularly with utilities, prevent municipalities from considering energy performance contracts. Interestingly, engaging an energy consultant has a negative propensity to use energy service contracts, while pre-negotiated standardised contracts for energy performance contracts have a positive influence.