Subnational energy governance and energy resilience in low-carbon transitions: a narrative review

The transition to low-carbon energy systems is increasingly shaped not only by technological innovation but also by governance arrangements that influence system performance, reliability, and resilience. While national energy policies and market reforms have received extensive scholarly attention, the role of subnational governance particularly at provincial or regional level remains underexplored in the energy transitions literature. This review synthesises interdisciplinary scholarship on energy transitions, energy resilience, and subnational governance, with particular attention to middle-income and emerging economy contexts. Drawing on socio-technical transition theory, energy security and resilience frameworks, and just transition scholarship, the paper critically examines how subnational actors contribute to renewable energy integration, decentralisation, and adaptive capacity within electricity systems. The review further evaluates the Energy Transition Index (ETI) as a diagnostic framework for assessing energy system performance beyond the national scale, highlighting both its analytical value and its limitations when applied to subnational governance contexts. The paper identifies key institutional, political, and capacity-related factors shaping subnational contributions to energy resilience and low-carbon transitions and concludes by outlining policy-relevant insights and priority research gaps. The analysis contributes to the energy transitions literature by clarifying the governance dimensions of resilience and by positioning subnational governance as a critical, yet under-theorised, scale of intervention in renewable energy transitions.