Technology Acceptance from Above and Below. Negotiations of Energy Saving, Statehood, and Distributive Fairness in West Germany, 1976–1986

In the mid-1970s, politicians and regulatory experts considered that the West German energy system was at a crossroads. They discussed whether energy saving and renewable energies or nuclear energy should be supported as a long-term technology. The debate on technology acceptance was not only sparked by questions of economic efficiency and the risks of nuclear energy use. It was also shaped by the dispute over regulatory instruments, consumer participation, and the organization of the energy system. The example of energy saving shows how much these scientific and political debates were determined by fears of technological as well as political path dependencies and their repercussions for the state. The paper thus proposes that the acceptance of state regulation be considered, for a better understanding of technology acceptance. The analysis of both the scientific debates and political negotiation processes together with letters from citizens to the federal government show that the criterion of distributive fairness influenced the acceptance of energy saving as a technology. Scientists, politicians, and citizens widely acknowledged that energy saving was compatible with a fair distribution of technical progress, private comfort, and economic growth, which promoted its acceptance. Moreover, their interpretation of distributive fairness also reveals an affirmative attitude towards the state and its ability to implement an acceptable energy system.