Much of the work on technology transitions and electricity has concentrated on sustainability from the perspective of centralized generation and transmission companies. For example, there is a substantial literature in energy social science on the role that the smart grid plays in the sustainable energy transition, and much of that research assumes continuity with a traditional centralized electric system, modified slightly to admit some distributed energy resources. We start from a different perspective. First, our focus is less on centralized generation and transmission companies and more on organizations that distribute electricity and related services to end customers in a defined geographic area. These entities are described in a variety of ways across countries; we use the term “local power organizations” (LPOs). Second, we focus less directly on the sustainability transition as such and more on the complex sociotechnical changes produced by specific digital tools. We open the black box of digital technologies that underpin the sustainability transition to highlight implicated sociotechnical issues, ranging from individual privacy to control and ownership of electricity. We then outline three central challenges of digitization that suggest new directions in energy social science research as the future control of electricity develops along its digital pathway.

从集中发电和输电公司的角度来看，技术转型和电力方面的大部分工作都集中在可持续性上。例如，能源社会科学中有大量关于智能电网在可持续能源转型中的作用的文献，其中大部分研究假设与传统集中电力系统的连续性，稍作修改以承认一些分布式能源。我们从不同的角度开始。首先，我们的重点不是集中式发电和输电公司，而是更多地关注向特定地理区域内的最终客户分配电力和相关服务的组织。这些实体在不同国家以多种方式描述；我们使用术语“地方权力组织”（LPO）。第二，我们不太直接关注可持续性转型本身，而是更多地关注特定数字工具产生的复杂社会技术变化。我们打开了支持可持续性转型的数字技术黑匣子，以突出相关的社会技术问题，从个人隐私到电力的控制和所有权。然后，我们概述了数字化的三个核心挑战，这些挑战为能源社会科学研究的新方向提出了新的方向，因为未来对电力的控制沿着其数字化途径发展。从个人隐私到电力的控制和所有权。然后，我们概述了数字化的三个核心挑战，这些挑战为能源社会科学研究的新方向提出了新的方向，因为未来对电力的控制沿着其数字化途径发展。从个人隐私到电力的控制和所有权。然后，我们概述了数字化的三个核心挑战，这些挑战为能源社会科学研究的新方向提出了新的方向，因为未来对电力的控制沿着其数字化途径发展。