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Electricity: commodity or a right? Implications of people’s attitudes for the development of sustainable pricing systems

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Authors:
Westskog, H. Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO), Norway
Winther, T. Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, Norway

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine people’s attitudes to electricity and electricity consumption. We use this for discussing what kind of pricing systems for electricity would be suited to produce more sustainable consumption patterns. We base our results on a focus group study carried out in two Norwegian towns. In addition we use data gathered through in-depth interviews in the same locations. We show that there is diversity in people’s views about electricity consumption. Some regard electricity as a right: Up to a certain level considered necessary for having a reasonable standard of living, they hold that each citizen is entitled to be provided by electricity by the government at an affordable cost. Others think of electricity as a commodity similar to all other commodities found in any market, and argue that as long as they pay for the electricity, they can use as much as they prefer. The two kinds of views on electricity are discussed in terms of what kind of pricing system for electricity could have effect in a sustainable direction. To some extent, participants themselves brought up the connection between the status of electricity and appropriate pricing systems. Some people who regarded electricity as a right argued that the pricing system should not only signal the norm for consumption, but also be a mechanism for contributing to a just allocation of the burdens of saving electricity. Conversely, amongst those who viewed electricity as a market good, some highlighted that negative environmental effects should be regulated by increasing the price in accordance with the cost of these effects. We relate these findings to the literature on sustainable energy consumption and to the current debate on the electricity system in Nor

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