Papers by Emilia Melville
Life After COVID-19, 2020
This paper considers the intersection of institutional mechanisms for creating and maintaining co... more This paper considers the intersection of institutional mechanisms for creating and maintaining commons with mechanisms that increase or decrease inequalities in wealth, power and dignity. This is explored in the context of the development of local energy systems, based on a case study in a UK city. It explores different conceptions of fairness and equality among those working towards a local sustainable energy transition, and how this affects the way that inequality manifests, is perpetuated, and is challenged. The paper explores the inclusion and exclusion of participants in the community energy sector, which has been criticised for being mainly white, middle class and male; the distribution of financial benefit from renewable energy through community investment or municipal ownership; and the focus on people in fuel poverty relative to people who overconsume energy. It concludes that although a commons approach to local energy can risk exacerbating inequalities, it also provides o...
Energy Policy, 2017
This study explores how energy might be conceptualised as a commons, a resource owned and managed... more This study explores how energy might be conceptualised as a commons, a resource owned and managed by a community with a system of rules for production and consumption. It tests one aspect of Elinor Ostrom's design principles for successful management of common pool resources: that there should be community accountability for individual consumption behaviour. This is explored through interviews with participants in a community demand response (DR) trial in an urban neighbourhood in the UK. Domestic DR can make a contribution to balancing electricity supply and demand. This relies on smart meters, which raise vertical (individual to large organisation) privacy concerns. Community and local approaches could motivate greater levels of DR than price signals alone. We found that acting as part of a community is motivating, a conclusion which supports local and community based roll out of smart meters. Mutually supportive, voluntary, and anonymous sharing of information was welcomed. However, mutual monitoring was seen as an invasion of horizontal (peer to peer) privacy. We conclude that the research agenda, which asks whether local commonsbased governance of electricity systems could provide social and environmental benefits, is worth pursuing further. This needs a shift in regulatory barriers and 'governance-system neutral' innovation funding.
The problems and opportunities of transition to sustainable energy systems constitute one of the ... more The problems and opportunities of transition to sustainable energy systems constitute one of the primary challenges in governance for sustainable development in general and for decarbonisation and climate policy in particular. Drawing on the work of Elinor and Vincent Ostrom and their collaborators on common-pool resource management and polycentric governance, researchers in the field have been calling recently for systematic attention to be paid to polycentric governance of energy systems (see for example Goldthau, 2014). This paper makes a contribution to this research agenda by examining the extent to which the UK’s electricity infrastructure and associated governance system can be characterised as polycentric, and the ways in which it exhibits common problems of polycentric governance. This study finds that the UK electricity system exhibits some, but not all, of the characteristics proposed by McGinnis (2016), building on V. Ostrom’s (1972) framework, and could therefore be see...
Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia, 2018
This paper considers the intersection of institutional mechanisms for creating and maintaining co... more This paper considers the intersection of institutional mechanisms for creating and maintaining commons with mechanisms that increase or decrease inequalities in wealth, power and dignity. This is explored in the context of the development of local energy systems, based on a case study in a UK city. It explores different conceptions of fairness and equality among those working towards a local sustainable energy transition, and how this affects the way that inequality manifests, is perpetuated, and is challenged. The paper explores the inclusion and exclusion of participants in the community energy sector, which has been criticised for being mainly white, middle class and male; the distribution of financial benefit from renewable energy through community investment or municipal ownership; and the focus on people in fuel poverty relative to people who overconsume energy. It concludes that although a commons approach to local energy can risk exacerbating inequalities, it also provides opportunities for increasing equality, of wealth, power and individual dignity. These require commitment, and need to be designed into evolving local institutions.
A B S T R A C T This study explores how energy might be conceptualised as a commons, a resource o... more A B S T R A C T This study explores how energy might be conceptualised as a commons, a resource owned and managed by a community with a system of rules for production and consumption. It tests one aspect of Elinor Ostrom's design principles for successful management of common pool resources: that there should be community accountability for individual consumption behaviour. This is explored through interviews with participants in a community demand response (DR) trial in an urban neighbourhood in the UK. Domestic DR can make a contribution to balancing electricity supply and demand. This relies on smart meters, which raise vertical (individual to large organisation) privacy concerns. Community and local approaches could motivate greater levels of DR than price signals alone. We found that acting as part of a community is motivating, a conclusion which supports local and community based roll out of smart meters. Mutually supportive, voluntary, and anonymous sharing of information was welcomed. However, mutual monitoring was seen as an invasion of horizontal (peer to peer) privacy. We conclude that the research agenda, which asks whether local commons-based governance of electricity systems could provide social and environmental benefits, is worth pursuing further. This needs a shift in regulatory barriers and 'governance-system neutral' innovation funding.
Thesis Chapters by Emilia Melville
Thesis, University of Surrey, 2017
This research explores local energy initiatives through the theoretical frameworks of commons and... more This research explores local energy initiatives through the theoretical frameworks of commons and
polycentric (multi-stakeholder) governance, as theorised by the Ostrom workshop (Ostrom, 1990; McGinnis,
2016). It uses five case studies, two at the neighbourhood, one at the city, and two at the bioregional spatial
levels. At the neighbourhood level, the thesis explores the use of Ostrom’s design principles for common
pool resources to design a neighbourhood flexible energy district. At the city and bioregional levels, it
explores the evolution of polycentric institutions in a mature community energy sector and active local
government. It also explores the challenge of including valuing within the commons and polycentric
governance paradigm.
This thesis establishes that energy can usefully be framed as a commons: it is a resource that can be
consumed, and one where exclusion of users is problematic. There are positive externalities of universal
access to energy; there are negative externalities for the environment; and the infrastructure is at risk of
monopoly rent-seeking. In a neighbourhood context, the research finds that supportive community
accountability for consumption would be welcome, but that this must respect privacy and individual
autonomy. At the city and bioregional scales, it finds that strong shared vision, coordination and
collaboration between multiple organisations, individuals and sectors are essential to progress. It also finds
that the fragmentation between the governance of the incumbent energy industry and the civic energy
sector is a barrier to the transition needed to meet national carbon targets.
Finally, a set of ‘design principles’ for commons-based polycentric governance of energy systems are
proposed, tested in relation to the case studies, and revisited following analysis, with implications for policy,
industry and the civic energy sector. These include a mixed system with a greater role for commons, nested
governance, diversity of institutions and protecting equality and the environment.
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Papers by Emilia Melville
Thesis Chapters by Emilia Melville
polycentric (multi-stakeholder) governance, as theorised by the Ostrom workshop (Ostrom, 1990; McGinnis,
2016). It uses five case studies, two at the neighbourhood, one at the city, and two at the bioregional spatial
levels. At the neighbourhood level, the thesis explores the use of Ostrom’s design principles for common
pool resources to design a neighbourhood flexible energy district. At the city and bioregional levels, it
explores the evolution of polycentric institutions in a mature community energy sector and active local
government. It also explores the challenge of including valuing within the commons and polycentric
governance paradigm.
This thesis establishes that energy can usefully be framed as a commons: it is a resource that can be
consumed, and one where exclusion of users is problematic. There are positive externalities of universal
access to energy; there are negative externalities for the environment; and the infrastructure is at risk of
monopoly rent-seeking. In a neighbourhood context, the research finds that supportive community
accountability for consumption would be welcome, but that this must respect privacy and individual
autonomy. At the city and bioregional scales, it finds that strong shared vision, coordination and
collaboration between multiple organisations, individuals and sectors are essential to progress. It also finds
that the fragmentation between the governance of the incumbent energy industry and the civic energy
sector is a barrier to the transition needed to meet national carbon targets.
Finally, a set of ‘design principles’ for commons-based polycentric governance of energy systems are
proposed, tested in relation to the case studies, and revisited following analysis, with implications for policy,
industry and the civic energy sector. These include a mixed system with a greater role for commons, nested
governance, diversity of institutions and protecting equality and the environment.
polycentric (multi-stakeholder) governance, as theorised by the Ostrom workshop (Ostrom, 1990; McGinnis,
2016). It uses five case studies, two at the neighbourhood, one at the city, and two at the bioregional spatial
levels. At the neighbourhood level, the thesis explores the use of Ostrom’s design principles for common
pool resources to design a neighbourhood flexible energy district. At the city and bioregional levels, it
explores the evolution of polycentric institutions in a mature community energy sector and active local
government. It also explores the challenge of including valuing within the commons and polycentric
governance paradigm.
This thesis establishes that energy can usefully be framed as a commons: it is a resource that can be
consumed, and one where exclusion of users is problematic. There are positive externalities of universal
access to energy; there are negative externalities for the environment; and the infrastructure is at risk of
monopoly rent-seeking. In a neighbourhood context, the research finds that supportive community
accountability for consumption would be welcome, but that this must respect privacy and individual
autonomy. At the city and bioregional scales, it finds that strong shared vision, coordination and
collaboration between multiple organisations, individuals and sectors are essential to progress. It also finds
that the fragmentation between the governance of the incumbent energy industry and the civic energy
sector is a barrier to the transition needed to meet national carbon targets.
Finally, a set of ‘design principles’ for commons-based polycentric governance of energy systems are
proposed, tested in relation to the case studies, and revisited following analysis, with implications for policy,
industry and the civic energy sector. These include a mixed system with a greater role for commons, nested
governance, diversity of institutions and protecting equality and the environment.