Getting fair institutional conditions for district heating consumers: Insights from Denmark and Sweden

Highlights: • Suited institutions are decisive for consumer protection and district heating adoption. • The right combination of institutional conditions lowers district heating prices. • Both the free market and the strict regulation approaches have shown shortcomings. • Transparency, communication and local ownership are crucial to reduce prices. District heating is expected to play an important role in the EU for the implementation of a low carbon energy system with high shares of renewables. Empirical examples from several countries show that district heating companies can misuse their monopoly position, hampering district heating adoption. To address this issue, it is necessary to develop and implement institutional frameworks that promote fair conditions for consumers. However, it is still unclear how to do this. This article reviews the institutional conditions implemented in Denmark and Sweden from the start of district heating until the present and analyses why different institutional configurations have managed or failed to promote fair conditions for consumers. The analytical framework for consumer power in natural monopolies is applied. The data is collected via a structured literature review, interviews with experts and other data sources such as resolutions of consumer complaints, relevant stakeholders' websites and legal documents. The results indicate that local ownership, transparency and communication have been of key importance to reduce prices in both countries. Further research is necessary to fully understand how the institutional conditions have influenced product and customer relation quality. Lessons from Denmark and Sweden are outlined.