Transforming Energy Systems: Why Governance Matters

Understand the importance of governance for rapid energy system decarbonisation.

Energy governance includes the rules, regulations, institutions and politics that affect energy system change. Effective governance is key to the transformation of energy systems in order to tackle climate change with the urgency that’s needed.

On this course, you will explore how and why energy systems need to change, and what this means for security, people and costs. You will also learn about the key elements of effective energy governance and explore real-life examples of energy governance from around the world.

This course is for those with an existing knowledge or interest in energy systems and energy system change. This includes energy practitioners, policymakers, regulators, researchers and students in the field.

• Energy system transformation: changes, challenges and governance
• Welcome and Course Introduction
• Understanding energy systems
• The impacts of conventional energy systems
• Energy system change
• The governance challenge
• End of Week 1
• Emerging energy systems
• Welcome to Week 2
• Changing energy system characteristics
• Directions of energy system change
• Changing Money Flows and New Business Models
• Energy institutions in changing energy systems
• End of Week 2
• People, Scale and Society
• Welcome to Week 3
• Understanding the changing role of people in energy systems and the need for meaningful consent and equity
• Why is local energy becoming more important?
• The role of society in energy system transformations
• Challenges of system change across scales
• End of Week 3
• Energy governance change for rapid decarbonisation
• Welcome to Week 4
• Problems for energy governance to address
• Good governance – insights from other countries
• IGov’s proposed reforms to energy system governance
• Conclusions – A fit-for-purpose energy governance framework
• End of Week 4