Innovation and institutional change: the transition to a sustainable ...

170 Chapter 6
became in turn one of the legitimising pillars for the regulatory energy tax 18 .
The exemption initially led to a small reduction of the premium paid for
green electricity, but with tax hikes in 1999 and 2000 it led to competitive
prices for green electricity from 2000 on (see figure 6.2).
Figure 6.2 Evolution of Regulatory Energy Tax (in €cents per Kwh) for
electricity consumption by households
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6
5
4
3
2
1
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1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
First signs of institutionalisation of the new governance arrangement
After the introduction of green electricity by PNEM in the province of
North-Brabant in 1995, other energy distributors followed PNEM’s example
through introduction of green electricity under similar names in their
respective distribution areas from 1996 on. The principal elements of the
governance arrangement introduced by PNEM were followed by all
providers. Thus, it was guaranteed that not more green electricity was sold
than was produced and additional income through green electricity sales was
invested in new capacity based on renewable energy sources. Verification of
these obligations was done by the WWF for most distributors, although
occasionally another NGO acted as verifier. As of 1996, therefore, marketdriven
incentives accompanied policy-driven incentives in strategies for
electricity generation based on renewable sources by the energy distribution
effects, both in terms of the interpretation of behaviour of target groups, as in terms of the
nature of policies that could induce change in this behaviour. The wastewater levy
facilitated the further implementation of the polluter pays principle in combination with
propagating ‘pollution prevention pays’ for target groups; while the regulatory energy tax
facilitated the concept of ‘greening the tax system’.
18 The initial objective of stimulating energy saving behaviour in households remained
another pillar, and an evaluation study concluded in 2001 that the tax had resulted in lower
energy consumption in the period until 2000 (SEO, 2001).