Tensions in the Transition: The Politics of Electricity Distribution in South Africa

The distribution of electricity represents an important yet neglected aspect of the politics of local energy transitions. In this paper we analyse electricity in South Africa as a site of struggle which in recent years has seen the introduction of new actors and technologies, including the ‘prosumer’ (producer-consumer) of electricity and ‘disruptive technologies’ such as roof-top solar photovoltaics (PV). We analyse these recent developments in a historical context and consider implications for the contemporary planning, regulation and ownership of electricity at the local and national level. We find that the reconfiguration of electricity distribution faces significant political and economic challenges that are rooted in the country’s socio-economic and racial inequalities and its heavy dependence on coal-fired power. First, disruptive technologies offer potential opportunities for affordable, decentralised, low-carbon energy at the local level, yet disruption to the coal-powered electric grid and the monopoly of South Africa’s electricity utility has been minimal to date. Second, distributed solar PV creates tensions between equitable and low carbon energy transitions and threatens critical revenue from the country’s wealthy consumers that cross-subsidises electricity services for the poor and other municipal public services. Third, the South African experience queries common assumptions about the democratic potential of decentralised governance. Fourth, South Africa provides insights of global significance into how political institutions have responded to social and technological drivers of change, in a context where planning and regulation have followed rather than led infrastructural developments. While energy policy remains unresponsive or resistant to social and technological change, there remain significant political, economic, technical and regulatory challenges to a just and inclusive energy transition.