Pictures of power play: Visual language and analysis of Victorian electricity

Abstract

Australia’s electricity system is undergoing a transition, with each jurisdiction contributing to this shift. Despite progress, about 70% of Victoria’s electricity is still generated from brown coal, underscoring the importance of understanding its historical development to inform future transitions. This article presents the Socio-Technical Layout (STL) framework as a graphical tool to map, diagnose, and analyse key elements of socio-technical systems, including technologies, actors, markets and energy–money flows. Applying the STL to Victoria’s electricity system uncovers three development phases: emerging, public, and private; and reveals that: (i) complexity — traditionally linked to sca..