Mainstreaming storylines of a social innovation: The case of energy communities in Austria

• Austria provides a rich case for energy communities with rapid diffusion. • Storylines on energy communities diversify in relation to their societal context. • The meaning of ‘energy citizens’ shifts towards financial participation. • Actors adopt storylines on justice to counteract dominance of incumbents in energy communities. • A new type of storyline emerges in the energy crises: postapocalyptic storylines. In the last four years, since Austria enabled the establishment of energy communities (ECs), their numbers have rapidly increased, and their role in Austria's energy transition has been widely discussed. This study explores how storylines of ECs, as social innovations, have changed during their introduction and diffusion. We adopt a dialectic perspective of niche diffusion and discursive struggles in sustainability transitions. Analyzing newspaper articles and interviews, we reveal initial discursive struggles and the diversification into seven storylines across four contextual phases, shaped particularly by legislative frameworks and the energy crisis. Five storylines construct ECs as positive change, one as a negative force on society, and one as ambivalent. We discuss significant changes in how storylines construct ECs, focusing on justice and citizenship, the reconstruction of actor configurations, and emerging postapocalyptic storylines. This study enriches our understanding of discursive struggles around social innovations and their potential to challenge existing configurations.