IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v2y2010i2p551-575d7132.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing Sustainability Transition in the US Electrical Power System

Author

Listed:
  • Scott Jiusto

    (Interdisciplinary and Global Studies, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Rd., Worcester, MA 01609-2280, USA)

  • Stephen McCauley

    (Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA)

Abstract

This paper examines sustainability transition dynamics in the US electricity system, drawing on the socio-technical systems approach. We view system change as unfolding along several critical dimensions and geographical scales, including dynamics in the environment, science, civil society, discourse, and state regulatory institutions, as well as in capital and technology formations. A particular emphasis is given to the interaction of discourses, policy networks, and institutions. We trace four distinct regimes which have characterized the evolution of this discourse-network-institutional nexus over the last century. The research examines dynamics that present a challenge to the incumbent energy regime based on fossil fuels, nuclear and hydropower, and demonstrates how the actor-network supporting renewables and energy efficiency has grown stronger and more capable of moving toward a sustainability transition than at any time since the sustainable energy movement began a generation ago.

Suggested Citation

  • Scott Jiusto & Stephen McCauley, 2010. "Assessing Sustainability Transition in the US Electrical Power System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-25, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:2:y:2010:i:2:p:551-575:d:7132
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/2/551/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/2/551/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jürges, Nataly, 2016. "Wahrnehmungen und Funktionen in der Transformation zur Bioökonomie: Eine Akteursanalyse im Politikfeld "Boden"," UFZ Discussion Papers 6/2016, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:2:y:2010:i:2:p:551-575:d:7132. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.