Resistance and power - on smart grids for the many people II

A research programme in collaboration with Chalmers, Linköping University, KTH, Uppsala University.

Funded by the Kamprad Family Research Foundation

In the research programme ‘Resistance and power - on smart grids for the many people’ we address social science questions about the electricity system and its transition and contribute to the development of new strategies, regulations and policies. Part 1 of the programme ran between 2019-2024 and part 2 runs between 2025-2028.

In this programme period, we put the home at the centre - the focus and starting point for everyday electricity use. The home is located in, affected by and influences the surrounding electricity system, and sometimes also various intermediate forms of organisation such as energy communities. How they interact is influenced by the national and global context. A complementary classification is based on four different, but not isolated, societal dimensions that have an impact on both the electricity system and the home: the social, technological, economic and political dimensions. Based on this schematic figure, we develop in the following sections the research questions that underpin the research projects.

IIIEE researchers focus on the political dimension: power, influence and regulation. The engagement, participation and responsibility of many people are important for the energy transition. Energy democracy, energy justice and energy citizenship are keywords.