There is widespread agreement in policy and academic circles that energy systems in many jurisdictions are becoming more decentralized. Energy decentralization may be occurring among US and European municipal governments as they establish energy companies to serve customers and promote energy sector decarbonization. This paper reviews different forms of energy decentralization identified in the literature. It then reviews and compares municipal energy company development and activity in three jurisdictions with different legal and regulatory frameworks. Differences in institutional context, we argue, explain much of the variation in municipal energy business models and, by extension, the ways in which energy decentralization is occurring. Specifically, we show that the opportunity to take on monopoly functions where municipal companies are not competing with other market players, and thereby face fewer financial and operational risks, enable municipal energy companies to promote energy decentralization in business activities. On the contrary, these opportunities are limited where municipal energy companies must compete in markets with other players. The findings confirm that public policy institutions play a critical role in energy decentralization and demonstrate how studying commercial activities through a business model lens can help reveal decentralization dynamics. The results are also intended for cities considering new municipal ventures, especially where cities are trying to learn lessons from international examples. They suggest an explicit consideration of differences in policy and regulatory contexts.

政策和学术界已达成广泛共识，即许多司法管辖区的能源系统越来越分散。在美国和欧洲的市政政府建立能源公司为客户提供服务并促进能源部门的脱碳过程中，可能会发生能源权力下放的情况。本文回顾了文献中确定的不同形式的能源权力下放。然后，它审查并比较了三个具有不同法律和法规框架的辖区中市政能源公司的发展和活动。我们认为，制度背景的差异解释了市政能源商业模式的许多差异，并由此扩展了能源分权的发生方式。具体来说，我们表明，在市政公司不与其他市场参与者竞争的情况下承担垄断职能的机会，从而减少了财务和运营风险，使市政能源公司能够在业务活动中促进能源分散化。相反，在市政能源公司必须与其他参与者竞争市场的情况下，这些机会是有限的。这些发现证实了公共政策机构在能源权力下放中发挥着关键作用，并展示了如何通过商业模式来研究商业活动如何有助于揭示权力下放的动态。该结果还适用于正在考虑建立新市政企业的城市，尤其是那些试图从国际案例中吸取教训的城市。