cymakers must address the issues, protecting consumers’ interests and rights.
7. Short-term cost reduction approaches may lead to, e.g., poor system maintenance and higher future costs.
6. Management of DH companies requires knowledge and expertise to avoid poor managerial decisions. Standard guidelines on investment decision-making, merging small companies, and customized expert support could support good management in DH companies.
Promoting local and inclusive ownership models (such as local consumer cooperatives or local municipal companies) could be of utmost importance to guarantee that residential DH con- sumers’ rights and interests are safeguarded.
IMPORTANT FINDINGS
Policy insights to support DH systems development – DH regulation is necessary to protect residential DH con- sumers, whereas opting for less or more strict regulation may depend on national or regional preferences. – It is crucial that DH regulation promotes high levels of transparency regarding DH decision-making through regular publication of DH prices by the regulatory au- thorities, access to financial and technical reports, etc.
– Promoting local and inclusive ownership models (such as local consumer cooperatives or local municipal com- panies) could be of utmost importance to guarantee that residential DH consumers’ rights and interests are safeguarded.
This article is based on the research outcomes presented in the scientific paper ‘Getting fair institutional conditions for district heating consumers: Insights from Denmark and Sweden’, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). The above article contains some extracts (sometimes with minor modifications) from the original scientific article.
Jaqueline de Godoy
Leire Gorroño Albizu
What makes this subject exciting to you? In my Ph.D. research, I dive into the society-technolo- gies-energy matters to understand the consequences and the role of energy experts in designing energy sys- tems for the communities they serve. The socio-technical nature of district heating systems needs the continuous alignment of large-scale technical changes with social elements. It implies that those systems must be under- stood by the interplay between their social and technical characteristics. Therefore, I was motivated to work on this project to understand what cultural aspects can favor or impede the development of such socio-technical sys- tems. What will your findings do for DH? Our study can motivate district heating experts to imple- ment (or keep implementing) institutional practices that prioritize the citizens’ needs (such as heating at a rea- sonable price). Fair conditions are an ally to enhance the development of district heating projects. - It is crucial that DH regulation promotes high levels of transparency regarding DH decision-making through regular publication of DH prices by the regulatory au- thorities, access to financial and technical reports, etc.
What makes this subject exciting to you? When I moved to Denmark to study the Master Pro- gramme in Sustainable Energy Planning and Manage- ment at Aalborg University in 2012, there were two things (completely new to me) I got fascinated about: (1) local and inclusive citizen ownership of energy projects and infrastructure and (2) district heating. There were (and still are) so many potential benefits to gain from im- plementing these solutions! That is why I have dedicated most of my career to learning more about these two top- ics and disseminating the acquired knowledge - mainly in Europe and abroad. This article is a beautiful piece of that larger work. What will your findings do for DH? The intention is to move the discussion from “what works and what doesn’t” to “why it works, or it doesn’t” – in each context. The analytical framework applied in this study al- lows us to better understand the reasons behind the (in) effectiveness of local institutional conditions to encour- age residential heat consumers to adopt district heating. The framework also facilitates cross-country comparisons and knowledge transfer. Isn’t that great?! And to show it, we bring a (tasty) appetizer: lessons from Denmark and Sweden. Enjoy!
For further information please contact: Jaqueline de Godoy, jdgo@energy.aau.dk
For further information please contact: Leire Gorroño-Albizu, lgorrono@mondragon.edu
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