Flexibility capital within Swedish multifamily households A study on energy policy from a bottom-up approach

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between energy vulnerability and the growing need for demand flexibility from the Swedish residential sector. Controlling for income, this supposed relationship was approached from the perspective of multifamily households. A bottom-up approach was further applied linking households' flexibility capital, that is - the ability to adjust energy-intense consumption in time - with household attitudes towards demand-side policies. Both surveys and semi-structured interviews were used, with the latter being emphasized to achieve a nuanced understanding of household flexibility experiences. These experiences were approached through the use of Powells and Fell (2019) flexibility framework. The findings showed little to no indications of energy vulnerability among the surveyed and interviewed households. Financial resources were a critical determinant of the absence of energy vulnerability in both income groups. The study also found a discrepancy between the households' perceived ability to provide flexibility and their actual ability to commit to it. Additionally, the analysis recognized factors that constrain households' flexibility capital, such as a lack of knowledge, agency, and perceived cost of energy relative to their disposable income. These results correspond to previous research which has indicated an energy justice dimension to demand flexibility policies. Further research is recommended to examine these factors as both barriers and enablers to demand flexibility in Sweden specifically, and a larger sample size is needed to increase the generalizability of the findings.