Sustainable Energy and Climate Strategies:
lessons from planning processes in five
Swedish municipalities
Paul Fenton
Sara Gustafsson
Jenny Ivner
Jenny Palm
LiU-IEI-R-12/0008
Preface
This study is part of the research project “Sustainable energy and climate strategies – lessons
learned and potential for development” that is run by Paul Fenton, Sara Gustafsson, Jenny
Ivner and Jenny Palm at Linköping University.
The project is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency within the Sustainable Municipality
programme. The overall purpose of the project is to develop knowledge about the policy
processes related to municipalities’ development and implementation of energy and climate
strategies. The aim of the project is to contribute with empirical and theoretical knowledge
in order to increase the effectiveness of energy strategies in local authorities. The project
runs from 1 September 2010 until 31 December 2012.
This is the summary of a report that is based on a multiple case study encompassing
interviews, observations and document studies in five Swedish local authorities. The data
collection was made in the autumn of 2011. The report is also the basis for an article that is
to be submitted to a scientific journal.
If you are interested to know more about the research project and its development, don’t
hesitate to contact the project leader Sara Gustafsson ([email protected] or +46 13
286602).
The authors wish to thank all respondents for sharing their experiences and contributing
with valuable information to this study.
Municipalprocessestodevelopandintroduceenergyandclimate
strategies–asummaryofstudiesoffivemunicipalities
The question of how electricity and heat should be produced, distributed and used is an important
issue for municipalities and their stakeholders to understand and discuss. In Sweden, municipalities
have played a role in, and had powers and responsibilities influencing the design of, energy systems
over a long period. Already in the mid-19th Century, municipalities were constructing gasworks and
since then, municipalities have traditionally included the production of both electricity and district
heating in their operations.
Since 1977, municipalities have been obliged by The Law on Municipal Energy-planning to develop
municipal energy plans. This law clarified the role of municipalities in energy and made the future
development of municipal energy systems the explicit responsibility of municipal councils. As a
result, municipalities played a key role in reducing the Swedish energy sector’s dependence on oil
during the 1970s-1980s. Municipalities developed and implemented energy saving and oil reduction
plans, and energy-producing municipalities often went from using oil to using coal or other fuels in
production. As environmental and climate issues became more prominent, most municipalities
began withdrawing fossil fuels from the sources used for energy production.
The municipal planning monopoly and municipalities’ role in, amongst other things, environmental
protection, together with the development of Local Agenda 21, municipal networks such as Climate
Municipalities or initiatives such as the Sustainable Municipality, mean that municipalities continue
to play a strategic role on energy issues. Municipalities in the Sustainable Municipality programme
were encouraged to develop energy and climate strategies to clarify, propose and prioritise
measures within the scope of municipal operations and responsibilities. Energy strategies are seen by
some as offering great potential, whereas others suggest such strategies are rarely implemented
effectively.
In this project, we have studied how the processes to develop energy strategies have been
structured in five municipalities. We have also considered whether and how these municipalities
work in local planning to ensure that energy strategies actually make a difference in the
municipality’s daily work. Analysis has been made from a policy theoretical perspective, with
particular focus on how problems and solutions are identified and formulated, which solutions are
proposed, which actors are included or excluded from the process, and which local resources are
used or not used in the process. In this report, we also reflect over the implications of increasing
stakeholder cooperation in energy planning processes.
Projectbackgroundandimplementation
This study forms part of the research project “Sustainable Energy and Climate Strategies –
development and potential”, which is financed within by the Swedish Energy Agency’s Sustainable
Municipality programme. The municipalities studied were participants in the programme’s second
phase (which began in 2008) and this report builds upon the results of a survey conducted with all
participants during the project’s first phase. The third phase of the project will synthesise results and
use these to develop support tools that may help improve the effectiveness of work with municipal
energy strategies.
The results of the survey were used to select five municipalities for study in detailed case studies. We
have chosen to call these municipalities A, B, C, D, and E in this report. In terms of size and
population, two municipalities are classified as “Large”, one “Medium” and two “Small”. This enabled
us to assess whether any differences in processes were related to a municipality’s size. In addition,
the selected municipalities represented the geographic diversity of Sweden.
The case studies began with an inventory of publically-available documents shaping the context for
energy and climate strategies in each municipality. These documents were compiled in time lines
showing the documents or decisions influencing energy planning in each municipality. This
compilation provided an overview that enabled preparation of an interview guide. Subsequently, the
persons with operational responsibility for energy planning processes in each municipality were
contacted and asked to arrange group interviews with stakeholders who had been active during the
process to develop the municipal energy strategy. Interviewees were often civil servants,
representatives from municipal companies (energy, real estate, etc). Group interviews were held,
with additional individual interviews held with the process Coordinator. Additional telephone
interviews were held with municipal politicians or other stakeholders, providing additional
perspectives on the political processes or levels of participation in the process. Interviews were
recorded and then transcribed. The results from the document study and interviews were then
compiled in a summary of each municipality’s energy planning process.
Results
The study has produced an enormous quantity of data and results. In this summary, we discuss some
of these, which are presented in more detail in the full report.
When initiating a process, there are various key factors that are significant for municipalities seeking
to develop energy strategies that are relevant to a wide range of stakeholders. For example, it was
considered important that the municipality has a clear and shared vision, and committed, engaged
politicians who defend or promote the strategy.
Other factors influencing the development of the planning process include a municipality’s size,
traditions (particularly with regard to organisational issues), and levels of political will. Such factors
may influence both the form of process and the content of strategies. The way in which the planning
process is organised, together with the type and role of involved stakeholders, also has a clear effect.
Economic contexts are obviously of significance, and influence the extent to which resources are
allocated for implementation. In Table 1, an overview of the content of the five municipalities’
energy strategies is shown.
Table 1. Overview of the scope of municipal strategies/plans, the type of measures planned and
implementation period, relationship to other initiatives, and drivers/motivations for municipal
energy planning.
Munic
ipality
Scope
Measures
Delivery
External
influence
Key driver
Related ambition
A
Geographic
zone
Mix of hard
& soft
Strategy
medium-term;
Plan near-term
Energy (efficiency &
renewable)
Attractive
community; be a
leading example
B
Municipal
organisation
Mix of hard
& soft
Strategy
medium-term;
Plan near-term
Regional
initiatives/
targets
Energy (efficiency &
renewable)
C
Geographic
zone
Mix of hard
& soft
Short-term
Regional
initiatives/
targets
Sustainable
development
D
Municipal
organisation
Mainly soft
Strategy shortterm; Plan nearterm
Regional
initiatives/
targets
Climate change
E
Municipal
organisation
Mainly soft
Near-term
Regional
initiatives/
targets
Climate change
Attractive
community; be a
leading example
The case studies highlight both similarities and differences with regard to the organisation of work to
develop and introduce energy strategies (see Figure 1). All five municipalities had some form of
Steering Group for the process, usually made up of politicians, although the extent of the roles which
these groups played varied. Four municipalities had a Reference Group in which external
stakeholders were represented. Each municipality had a Working Group with the task of coordinating
the practical work to develop a strategy. The participants in Working Groups varied between
municipalities and in some cases included both internal and external actors. In addition, Municipality
A also had a Management Group, comprising executives from organisations represented in the
Reference Group, which offered input on strategic decisions.
Figure 1. Organisation of planning processes in the five municipalities. Other influences are
presented in the boxes below.
Two of the municipalities used thematic working groups to prepare parts of their strategies. Citizens
have had significant roles in some municipalities (including a Citizen’s Panel for consultation),
whereas other municipalities have chosen to mainly focus on municipal operations and internalised
their processes. Other support groups have included a Future Group in one municipality, which
focused on long-term strategic issues, or regional initiatives to support municipal activities.
Participants from one municipality considered the Sustainable Municipality programme as a pivotal
moment in their strategic energy work, whereas others felt the programme did not significantly
influence their approach or outputs.
In Table 2, some key steps in energy planning processes are identified in chronological order. The
table shows that, for example, two municipalities took part in regional projects and that these
projects played a significant role in initiating their work to develop energy strategies. All
municipalities established, at an early stage, internal organisations for the process and throughout
the processes, the organisational form, participants and their role, and division of tasks and
responsibilities were fairly clear. In each municipality, energy strategies have been distributed in
consultation processes and presented to the respective Steering/Reference/Management Groups. In
all cases, consultation processes have led to a revision of the documents prior to final approval by
the municipal councils.
Table 2: Simplified map of key stages in the planning process of five municipalities, chronological
order from top to bottom.
Step taken by municipality
A
B
C
Participation in regional project
Establish internal organisation
X
X
X
Commission external energy analysis
X
Hold internal conference
X
Consultation with citizens
X
Creation of thematic working groups
X
D
E
X
X
X
X
X
X
Working Group (and sub-groups) make proposals
X
X
X
X
X
Working Group (WG )/ Coordinator (C) prepares draft strategy
WG
C
WG
C
C
Consultation (C); with Management/ Steering/ Reference Groups (G)
G
G
C
C
C
Revision of draft
X
X
Consultation with all municipal departments/companies
X
X
Revision > final proposal
X
X
X
X
X
Approval
X
X
X
X
X
Discussionandconclusions
This study has identified a number of factors influencing the development and implementation of
municipal energy strategies, as well as a strategy’s scope and content. These factors include a
municipality’s size (with regard to area, organisation and population), tradition, culture, choice of
methods, and the ways in which communication and participation (with both internal and external
stakeholders) occur.
Municipalities choosing an interactive and communicative approach had more open and inclusive
processes, leading to increased engagement and partnership, a stronger sense of legitimacy, and
potentially greater synergies. Municipalities opting for a more rational approach may risk missing out
on some of the benefits offered by a more inclusive process by for example narrowing the scope of a
strategy, reducing its legitimacy among stakeholders, failing to make best use of competencies, or
failing to communicate content relevant to the implementation phase.
This study has not found a clear link between the size of municipalities and their choice of
organisational form in strategic planning. However, it is not possible to rule out the potential impact
of size on issues such as choice and scope of measures, implementation periods, etc. Nonetheless,
we may say that it is not obvious that increasing size and economic resources of municipalities
automatically leads to more advanced or inclusive organisation of energy planning processes. On the
contrary, it may be easier to engage stakeholders in smaller municipalities where the municipal
organisation may have closer and more frequent relations with citizens. Other factors influencing the
development of processes include political will, administrative routine, and the role of key individuals
in, for example, shaping dialogue with citizens.