Modes of governance for municipal energy efficiency services – the case of LED street lighting in Germany
Energy efficiency retrofits are often impeded by high perceived investment risks, long payback periods and a lack of skills. At the municipal level these issues are particularly pronounced as procuring, implementing, and managing retrofits can exceed existing municipal governance capacities. The dif...
| Auteurs principaux: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Langue: | English |
| Publié: |
Elsevier
2016
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| _version_ | 1826260616580431872 |
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| author | Polzin, F von Flotow, P Nolden, C |
| author_facet | Polzin, F von Flotow, P Nolden, C |
| author_sort | Polzin, F |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Energy efficiency retrofits are often impeded by high perceived investment risks, long payback periods and a lack of skills. At the municipal level these issues are particularly pronounced as procuring, implementing, and managing retrofits can exceed existing municipal governance capacities. The diffusion of municipal LED street lighting as a replacement for conventional lighting serves as an example. This paper argues that technological (e.g. complexity and maturity), economic (e.g. selling services vs. products and financing costs), institutional (e.g. property situation and contracts) and competency barriers to retrofitting (e.g. lack of measurement capacity and qualified facilitators) translate into transaction costs. We develop a taxonomy of appropriate modes of municipal retrofitting governance based on transaction costs economics. The findings indicate that more market-based solutions, energy performance contracts in particular, can facilitate the procurement of innovative energy efficiency retrofitting solutions and associated investments among municipalities if neutral tenders, open-book accounting, municipal ownership and intermediary organisations allow municipalities to choose appropriate governance structures for particular technologies and retrofits. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:08:29Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:15fa7926-84b5-47e4-95db-c0edd38dbeb2 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:08:29Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:15fa7926-84b5-47e4-95db-c0edd38dbeb22022-03-26T10:28:29ZModes of governance for municipal energy efficiency services – the case of LED street lighting in GermanyJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:15fa7926-84b5-47e4-95db-c0edd38dbeb2EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier 2016Polzin, Fvon Flotow, PNolden, CEnergy efficiency retrofits are often impeded by high perceived investment risks, long payback periods and a lack of skills. At the municipal level these issues are particularly pronounced as procuring, implementing, and managing retrofits can exceed existing municipal governance capacities. The diffusion of municipal LED street lighting as a replacement for conventional lighting serves as an example. This paper argues that technological (e.g. complexity and maturity), economic (e.g. selling services vs. products and financing costs), institutional (e.g. property situation and contracts) and competency barriers to retrofitting (e.g. lack of measurement capacity and qualified facilitators) translate into transaction costs. We develop a taxonomy of appropriate modes of municipal retrofitting governance based on transaction costs economics. The findings indicate that more market-based solutions, energy performance contracts in particular, can facilitate the procurement of innovative energy efficiency retrofitting solutions and associated investments among municipalities if neutral tenders, open-book accounting, municipal ownership and intermediary organisations allow municipalities to choose appropriate governance structures for particular technologies and retrofits. |
| spellingShingle | Polzin, F von Flotow, P Nolden, C Modes of governance for municipal energy efficiency services – the case of LED street lighting in Germany |
| title | Modes of governance for municipal energy efficiency services – the case of LED street lighting in Germany |
| title_full | Modes of governance for municipal energy efficiency services – the case of LED street lighting in Germany |
| title_fullStr | Modes of governance for municipal energy efficiency services – the case of LED street lighting in Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modes of governance for municipal energy efficiency services – the case of LED street lighting in Germany |
| title_short | Modes of governance for municipal energy efficiency services – the case of LED street lighting in Germany |
| title_sort | modes of governance for municipal energy efficiency services the case of led street lighting in germany |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT polzinf modesofgovernanceformunicipalenergyefficiencyservicesthecaseofledstreetlightingingermany AT vonflotowp modesofgovernanceformunicipalenergyefficiencyservicesthecaseofledstreetlightingingermany AT noldenc modesofgovernanceformunicipalenergyefficiencyservicesthecaseofledstreetlightingingermany |