Smart Grids Messy Society

Project Workshop

In July 2019 a workshop on 'The Social Science of Smart Grids' was hosted at the University of Tasmania, attended by a mixed group of approximately thirty academics and practitioners. Many thanks to everyone who took part in what was a lively and interesting day.

The workshop aims and objectives were:

  1. To consider the role of social science in a field traditionally dominated by other disciplines, such as engineering, economics, and computer science;
  2. To evaluate the contribution to date of social science in developing our understanding of smart grids, and to identify any gaps in understanding;
  3. To further develop dialogue and knowledge exchange between social science academics and practitioners working on smart grids in Australia.

The workshop was structured as follows:

SESSION 1 – THE GOVERNANCE OF SMART GRIDS

  • Sangeetha Chandra-Shekeran - Trust as Social Infrastructure for Smart Grid Futures (20mins)
  • Jathan Sadowski* & Anthony M. Levenda - The Anti-Politics of Smart Energy Regimes (20mins)
  • DISCUSSION (20mins)

SESSION 2 – EXPLORING POSSIBLE RESPONSES TO SMART GRIDS

  • Yolande Strengers*, Larissa Nicholls, Andrew Glover, Paula Arcari & Rex Martin - Engaging households towards the Future Grid: A strategy for the sector (20mins)
  • Heather Lovell* & Phillipa Watson - Scarce Data: off-grid households in Australia (20mins)
  • DISCUSSION (20mins)

1230-1330 LUNCH

SESSION 3 – HOUSEHOLD FRAMINGS OF SMART GRIDS

  • Hedda Ransan-Cooper*, Phillipa Watson, Heather Lovell, Veryan Hann, Andrew Harwood - Are we connected? Householders’ emotional engagement with solar and battery storage in the home (20mins)
  • Andrew Glover*, Yolande Strengers, Larissa Nicholls, Paula Arcari, Rex Martin - Peer-to-peer electricity trading: new opportunities for local and care-based energy provision (20mins)
  • DISCUSSION (20mins)

SESSION 4 – STAKEHOLDER PANEL

Reflections on the papers, identifying industry and government research needs

  • Matthew Armitage, Australian Energy Market Operator
  • Lynne Gallagher, Energy Consumers Australia
  • Sue Morrison, Tasmanian Department of State Growth
  • Andrew Fraser, NAC Commercialisation

SESSION 5 – CONCLUSIONS & NEXT STEPS

Defining a research agenda for the social science of smart grids.