Measuring the legitimacy of energy transition policy in the Netherlands

In line with the Paris Agreement, the Dutch Government aims to achieve 49% CO2 emission reduction by 2030. The required energy transition will have a large impact on Dutch society. So, it is important that citizens and companies support and agree on the required policies. This paper explores the legitimacy of these policies and how to measure the degree of such legitimacy. A survey among Dutch citizens and company representatives shows support for the emission reduction policy goals (input-legitimacy). We also explored support for two specific policy interventions (output legitimacy): 1) an 'in-home display', collectively paid for by all energy consumers, and 2) an in-home display that is paid for by the energy companies. Both interventions are supported by around 50% of the citizens and companies. We found strong correlations between underlying aspects of legitimacy (related to good governance criteria) and the overall support for the interventions. We also found that public support for a policy goal does not automatically result in support for the associated intervention. This emphasizes the importance of ex-ante testing of specific interventions to determine the level of public support, so that policy can become more effective and efficient.