Opinion poles: Polarised views on energy developments in Canada's oil province

Energy projects are often subject to polarised opinions, with both extreme support and extreme opposition being present. This polarisation is often not accounted for in models of public preferences for energy-related issues, which limits analysts' understanding of the dynamics of public acceptance of policies or projects, and how acceptance could be enhanced. The objectives of this study are to develop an approach to test and account for polarisation in vignette experiments, and measure levels and identify drivers of polarisation. Our case studies examine hydraulic fracturing and wind energy developments in Alberta, Canada. We use a latent-class modelling approach to account for polarised or extreme groups of respondents, which we identify as two groups of respondents who exhibit extreme support for or opposition to all energy developments, regardless of its characteristics. We demonstrate that more neutral individuals are more reactive to changes in the policy attributes presented in the experiments. Trust in entities, such as government, industry, and environmental organisations, contributes to explaining class membership. Modelling the incidence of polarisation and accounting for preference heterogeneity in vignette experiment responses can offer beneficial insights to researchers and policy-makers that conduct public engagement and consultation processes. Our results help inform how energy development policy and program changes can be made towards garnering support from members of the public whose views are sensitive to the characteristics of the changes.