We need to understand the interplay between society, culture and technology. How has the view of humans within the energy system changed over time and what do the insights mean for sustainable societal development. Which stakeholder groups are included and which are excluded? What makes certain discourses and visions gain strength? What role does scientific development play as an enabler in relation to established industrial structures and economic interests?
Based on evolutionary theories of sociotechnical change and empirical data from the textual sources, critical watersheds in the development of current electric systems are analysed to enable a discussion of what we can understand in concepts such as “technology” and “choice”. Who makes the choices? When is the momentum of an emerging system so large that choices are limited to small design domains, and when can the overall direction be decided or influenced? On the one hand we have a completely open world in which all possibilities are available, and on the other we have a completely closed and deterministic world. Between these, we have another way of looking at things. But what can we truly learn from a more nuanced vision of sociotechnical change?