An important claim to think about as inherently related to our own project is the idea of energy services depending on more than just energy (Riniken et al., 2019:20). We can think of the energy services we receive as providing us with comfort, cleanliness, entertainment, and mobility, shaping more than just our residential environment (Riniken et al., 2019:20). In relation to our own project, we can think of these services as wholly dependent on other structures, depending on other meta-services, and being uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The most important idea to reflect upon is Riniken et al.'s assertion meta-services change when the means of achieving them change, which is important to think about in energy transitions and ways in which they leave many energy vulnerable populations behind (2019:20).
One of the important arguments as made by Riniken et al. (2019), is with regards to energy demand management being an unrealistic clause to be added to energy policy. The foregoing is specifically related to the dynamism of energy demand, as particularly related to the changing needs of the population (Riniken et al., 2019:10). In terms of this demand, the closest solution to meeting energy demand and its dynamism is through revolutionizing the energy grid system and incorporating microgrids, as proposed by the DVPRC Climate Adaptation Forum. On a more EVP project-focused approach, the idea of energy dynamism can speak to the limitations of energy assistance programs' monthly budgeting systems, based on former years' budgeting, that don't account for changing climate and changing energy demands and needs.
"There are three pillars of sustainability – economic, social and environmental – an idea that has figured strongly in policy discussions since the Bruntdland report of 1987" (Riniken et al., 2019:91).
As earlier quotations mention the nexus between energy, history, cultures, and contexts, we can think about this quote in terms of the ways in which economic, social, and environmental factors shape energy policies, energy demand, and energy consumption. In connection to the DVRPC Climate Adaptation Forum, we can also think of the above in terms of smart grids being able to address the trilemma talked about in the reading, given it tends to address all three pillars of sustainability through 'smart gridding'. Nevertheless, and particularly as related to our EVP project, many policies, state, and utility actions fail to consider meeting affordability, security, or decarbonization as they try to meet the commodification of energy demand.
"Energy consumption is indirectly shaped by policies that are not specifically concerned with energy or carbon emissions as such, but that have profound consequences for both" (Riniken et al., 2019:3).
This really centers some of the discussions we have had in the past couple of months, as particularly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, residential and commercial consumption, and the implications of the former on the latter. More specifically, this quote can help us ideate ways in which we may or may not structure our 'future outlooks' section in our article. We could cite policies now that work to shape energy consumptions in households and in commercial spaces and work to mention or think of ways in which those same non-energy policies could be amended to include energy considerations.
"Energy is conceptualised as something that is abstracted from what people do, and from the histories, cultures and contexts in which energy demand is constituted' (Riniken et al., 2019, 2).
This quote is important to consider in our article and as we continue the EVP project because it helps situate energy insecurity (vulnerability) within its contexts. Understanding how people cope with energy (expenses and production), what history certain groups or cultures have with energy access, can help formulate a comprehensive classification of energy services and help us identify what kind of policies and interventions are needed in those communities. To keep in mind, however, is these interventions shall not come with a drastic or harmful modification of the communities where actions are operated.
In talks of Energy Demand in the work, important conceptualizations of energy are with regards to its commodity status (Riniken et al., 2019:8). Relevant to our own articles and research, this idea of commodity speaks very directly to our 'energy rights' section. A right cannot certainly be a commodity. In fact, this idea of a commodity is built-up through the paragraph that highlights how energy end-services cannot truly be separated by social practices and should, thus, be considered in their contribution to creating minimal healthy living conditions (Riniken et al., 2019:8).