The Energy Transition Will Fail Without Better Storytelling – By Ashirbad S Raha

In a world where rising temperatures and growing energy inequality has become a reality, the story of energy transition – is often talked about in terms of megawatts installed, emissions avoided, and investments mobilised. But can technology and policy alone make this giant shift to affordable, clean energy? Or does this transition also require something more fragile, more potent, and often underestimated belief? And if it does so, how does that belief come into being? Can storytelling and effective communication shape that?

The Missing Layer in the Energy Discourse:
Over the past decade, we have seen extraordinary gains in renewable energy capacity, falling solar costs, and governments from Delhi to D.C. pledging to achieve net-zero goals. There is still a deeper disconnect, though. Many communities perceive the energy transition as abstract, elite story that is far away from everyday needs like clean fuel for cooking, access to reliable and affordable electricity, or even protection from extreme climate events.

And this disconnection is not just incidental – it is communicative. Energy policy discussions are often very high level, complex, punctuated by jargons, acronyms, and sometimes difficult-to understand modelling. The lived reality, such as a farmer dealing with diesel pump expenses, a woman waiting for hours for the load shedding to end, or a child learning by a streetlight, is rarely included in the narrative. So, until we bridge this gap between energy as numbers and energy as experience, we risk a transition that may neither be inclusive nor lasting.

WHY STORIES MATTER:
Stories give shape to imagination. They show people not just what is, but what could be. They humanise data, localise ideas, and often contribute towards building the emotional urgency required for collective change. This is not romanticism. It’s strategy. At the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC India), we have learned this firsthand. Over the years, our research has illuminated the need of expanding access to reliable and affordable energy. We know that electric utilities in many developing countries often don’t get fully paid by consumers for the power they supply.

In Bihar, for instance, a study led by EPIC researchers found that non-payment of bills leads to widespread outages and rationing of power and this poor electricity access may be a consequence of society treating electricity as a right rather than a commodity to be bought and sold. But that was the topline finding and numbers alone didn’t tell the full story. When we paired this research with community narratives that was stitched into a film, crafted opinion pieces targeting the root cause of this cyclic problem and got media interested in reporting it, the findings found deeper traction among local policymakers, civil society leaders, and even media mentions shaping public discourse.

Similarly, in another EPIC study on Delhi’s odd-even car rationing scheme, we found that the odd-even program could only be treated as an emergency measure during winter months when car emissions play a more prominent role in affecting air quality – and not as a tool that could be effective across seasons.

By embedding these findings into media stories, social media outreach, short videos and Op-Eds – we reached out to the masses, be it urban commuters, office goers, policymakers – reframing the debate from odd-even being a magic bullet pollution mitigation mechanism to when exactly can it be maximum effective. The shift in narrative done by strategic storytelling that advanced the research was effective enough that several years down the line the findings were cited in an affidavit that Government of Delhi sent to the Supreme Court, listing effective measures for pollution management in Delhi. These instances clearly show that good stories matter in pushing the narrative to a more meaningful public and policy discourse.

THE COST OF SILENCE:
So, when we fail to tell these stories, others do – and many times to a regressive effect. Globally, legacy energy industries have long mastered the art of emotionally resonant storytelling – aligning their narratives with ideas of progress, pride, and national growth. On the other hand, climate messaging has often rested too heavily on fear or guilt, missing the opportunity to inspire people with messages rooted in both urgency and hope. In fact, many times climate communication has focused so much on what we stand to lose that it’s forgotten to show what we could gain – leaving people overwhelmed instead of motivated. Changing that, can help immensely.

WHAT DOES BETTER STORYTELLING LOOK LIKE?
Better storytelling in the energy transition isn’t just about slick videos or powerful visuals — though they help. It’s about who tells the story, where and how it is told, and what emotions it evokes.

1. Putting Local Voices First: In a Jharkhand village, energy access appears differently than in a Chennai suburb. There is thus a need to shift from top-down messaging to narratives that are co-created and represent local pride, humor, culture, and anxieties. Participatory theatre, vernacular podcasts, media stories in regional languages, engagement of community leaders and leveraging the power of community radio should be treated as essential components of a fair transition.
2. Connecting Energy to Daily Life: There is an enormous opportunity to present renewable energy as more than just a way to combat climate change but also show as a chance for improved lighting for students, cleaner air for mothers, and increased revenue for craftspeople. Bringing the invisible into view – in a human centered manner often advances the narrative.
3. Developing Storytellers at All Levels: Communication literacy is essential for everyone, from bureaucrats to block-level business owners, not only to explain policies but also to listen, adjust, and establish credibility. And hence training storytellers on the ground can have a cascading effect. Organisation like Asar Social Impact Advisors (Asar) are making efforts in that direction through creation of Regional Communications Hubs, through which they aim to reshape the climate discourse at a regional level, breaking away from global narratives.
4. Accepting Complexity Rather Than Just Hope: Not all tales require a happy conclusion. Sometimes, highlighting the conflict between well-meaning goals and actual circumstances increases credibility and creates more room for discussion.