Comparing policy conflict on electricity transmission line sitings
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/09520767211036800 |
| Published date | 01 January 2023 |
| Date | 01 January 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Comparing policy
conflict on electricity
transmission line sitings
Jongeun You , Jill Yordy and
Christopher M Weible
University of Colorado Denver, USA
Kyudong Park
Kwangwoon University, Republic of Korea
Tanya Heikkila and Duncan Gilchrist
University of Colorado Denver, USA
Abstract
Maintaining the quality and reliability of electricity transmission lines is central to effec-
tive energy governance. However, transmission line siting is often a contentious policy
decision since permitting and constructing lines may involve private and public property,
residents and communities, and localized and national concerns. Yet, policy conflict in
transmission siting across cases and over time has remained largely understudied. This
article derives and tests hypotheses about policy conflict in the context of transmission
lines completed or constructed between 2017 and 2018 in the United States. In explor-
ing the full population of transmission lines, we find that a majority exhibit relatively low
and moderate levels of conflict and attention rather than high levels. We further exam-
ine a subset of six of these cases that represent a range of conflict and attention
intensity. We describe variation in the diversity of actors and frames, advocacy coali-
tions, and the volume of discourse associated with transmission line siting over time. As
problems related to energy governance have become more complex, energy siting
disputes are likely to remain a fruitful area for research on policy conflict.
Corresponding author:
Jongeun You, Hydrologic Science and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA.
Email: jongeunyou@mines.edu
Public Policy and Administration
!The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/09520767211036800
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2023, Vol. 38(1) 107–129
108 Public Policy and Administration 38(1)
Keywords
Advocacy Coalition Framework, discourse network analysis, electrical grid, energy
policy, Policy Conflict Framework, power line
Introduction
Energy sources, such as wind, solar, and natural gas, necessitate linear infrastruc-
ture—electricity transmission lines and gas pipelines—to reach consumers. Despite
extensive investment in electricity transmission infrastructure over the past
decade,
1
the U.S. still requires new or expanded transmission facilities to meet
increasing electricity demand and maintain a reliable power supply (Goggin
et al., 2021; U.S. Energy Information Administration [EIA], 2018). As we discuss
in more detail later, transmission lines have both positive and negative impacts
that form the basis for conflicts over whether, where, and how to site the lines.
Past research has examined several factors associated with stakeholders’ oppo-
sition to transmission projects, such as Not-in-My-Backyard (NIMBY) concerns
(Komendantova and Battaglini, 2016), a high level of place attachment (Devine-
Wright, 2013), inadequate regulatory frameworks (Steinbach, 2013), insufficient
public engagement (Knudsen et al., 2015), and a lack of communication with
residential customers (Lineweber, 2011).
2
However, most of these findings are
derived from case studies – excluding opinion poll studies of general beliefs and
perceptions about siting – and focus on cases that exhibit high conflict and attract
the most attention (see Devine-Wright, 2013; Knudsen et al., 2015). The literature
has tended to overlook cases that have low to moderate conflict and attract little
attention. Such sampling approaches tend to skew and limit our knowledge about
policy conflict more broadly.
Sampling approaches that focus on cases with higher levels of policy conflict are
not unique to the literature on transmission lines or energy infrastructure siting.
Much of our knowledge of policy conflict more broadly is skewed toward cases of
higher conflict intensity, thus limiting our empirical and theoretical knowledge
about policy conflict (Weible and Heikkila, 2017). This article begins to rectify
this gap and advance the policy conflict literature by exploring cases of transmis-
sion line siting that vary from low to high conflict and attention. Another contri-
bution of the article is developing tools for comparing and contrasting policy
conflict.
We measure the full variation in conflict and attention across a population of
125 cases. From a purposive sample of six cases representing different conflict and
attention levels, we explore the associated characteristics of policy conflict. We first
ask: What is the distribution of conflict and attention intensity across cases of trans-
mission line siting? To answer this question, we analyze indicators of conflict and
attention from news and social media across the full population of transmission
lines. From our purposive sample, we use news media coding and interviews to
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