Being at-risk or taking risks? Day-to-day experiences of electricity blackouts

Abstract

During recent years, the risks of critical infrastructures failing have been in the foreground in many European and EU policies. This paper presents another viewpoint to these discussions: the day-to-day user experiences of actual failures. By presenting research findings from a study done of electricity blackouts in Finland, I aim to show that failures are complicated situations and people hardly agree on what to make of the risks and uncertainties that result. Two social theories will be employed for these results. First, new risks and uncertainties can be seen as imposing vulnerabilities and rendering people helpless. But second, risks and uncertainty can also be seen as an important part of everyday life. In the final chapter, the results are reflected on governing security of electricity supply. Here I claim that the varieties of risk responses should be also accounted for at the level of policies and regulation.