Why Persist? Organisational perspectives on delivering an energy efficiency programme for the Leeds city region

Local governments are expected to act as catalysts to improve energy efficiency standards in buildings within their jurisdiction. In response, several UK local authorities have developed city-scale energy efficiency programmes to make effective use of government energy efficiency funding. Recent research documents the scale of involvement in city-scale energy projects, but reasons for actors’ involvement are less well understood. Using empirical evidence, we address this limitation by exploring the motives of organisations involved in the delivery of a large scale energy efficiency programme in the Leeds (UK) city region. Local economic, social, and environmental priorities are important factors in the development of city initiatives, and collaborative working between the public and private sector can realise energy efficiency objectives while also contributing to local economic growth. With national energy policy subject to ongoing uncertainty, it is important to determine how local and organisational priorities can align to support successful delivery of city-scale energy efficiency schemes. The focus of this paper is a case study of a joint programme, administered via a public-private framework arrangement to deliver energy efficiency measures across several cities and their surrounding regions. Evidence for the case study is drawn from semi-structured interviews with programme actors and from corporate and programme documentation. Using a theoretical framework with origins in business literature, we analyse the characteristics of the participating organisations and their reasons for involvement in the programme. We discuss the impact of policy changes to the Green Deal and ECO in shaping the programme and its implementation. In the final section of the paper, we identify the key factors contributing to the continued delivery of the programme and lessons that can be drawn to inform future schemes.