Futurists and state energy policy: The Wisconsin story

This analysis of the development of state energy policy focuses on the role of futurists and of alternative energy futures, from the experience of Wisconsin during the 1970s as viewed by participants in that development. First considered in the early 1970s, the concept of state energy policy has rap...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Technological forecasting & social change 1980-12, Vol.18 (4), p.341-358
Main Authors: Foell, Wesley K., Hanson, Mark E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Energy
Future/Futurism/Futurist/ Futurologist/ Futurologists
Policy/Policies
Wisconsin
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Summary:This analysis of the development of state energy policy focuses on the role of futurists and of alternative energy futures, from the experience of Wisconsin during the 1970s as viewed by participants in that development. First considered in the early 1970s, the concept of state energy policy has rapidly gained acceptance and become an important component of overall state policy. Methodological improvements and diversity and the involvement of growing numbers of people, groups, and agencies have been essential to shaping and improving the policy development process. A major success of Wisconsin's energy policy has been avoiding the construction of excess generating capacity by public utilities. A notable failure was not planning for revenue shortfalls with declining use of gasoline, despite early studies projecting the decline. Problem areas for improving the practice of energy policy analysis include the lack of creativity and imagination, the dissemination and embedding of results, and the analyst's need, in specifying problems and objectives, to work from the standpoint of policy makers.
ISSN:0040-1625
1873-5509
DOI:10.1016/0040-1625(80)90095-5