Print Email Facebook Twitter How do network companies seek legitimacy for public value trade offs? Title How do network companies seek legitimacy for public value trade offs?: The case of injecting biogas Author Steenhuisen, B.M. (TU Delft Organisation & Governance) de Bruijne, M.L.C. (TU Delft Organisation & Governance) Date 2016 Abstract Network companies fulfill a critical role in the energy transition. The is article provides an empirical study of this role of a Dutch national gas network company connecting a biogas producer. This project requires choices about many intertwined technical and institutional variables. Choices involve multiple, potentially competing public values like safety, cost-efficiency, sustainability and non-discrimination. A formal governance structure provides generic guidelines for network companies about how to act in the public interest, but we argue that unclarity remains on how to trade-off public values. In these instances, a network company seeks legitimacy for the choices that are made. Via an in-depth case study on the injection of biogas we explored how a network company interpreted its public role and how public value trade-off s were made. We conclude that legitimacy is sought and found in a mixture of formal and informal ways both inside the network company as well as outside. Although the governance regime allowed the network company to take a leading role in the innovative project, it failed as a starting point to claim legitimacy. These findings provide food for thought on how to institutionally embed the role of network companies in the energy transition. Subject governancenetwork companiesbiogaspublic valueslegitimicy To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:73460ad1-60b0-4935-99d1-37597c58ff5c Embargo date 2017-12-31 ISSN 1783-5917 Source Competition and Regulation in Network Industries, 17 (2), 181-201 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2016 B.M. Steenhuisen, M.L.C. de Bruijne Files PDF CRNI_17_02_0181.pdf 270.73 KB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:73460ad1-60b0-4935-99d1-37597c58ff5c/datastream/OBJ/view