Shaping niche innovations in energy transitions: The role of pitching to regulators

According to the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), niches play various roles in promoting innovation and facilitating socio-technical transitions. This study explores how entrepreneurs strategically engage with regulators through pitching—communicating the benefits of emerging innovations to secure regulatory support—and how this process shapes niche roles within socio-technical transitions, specifically in the energy sector. By positioning pitching as a key mechanism in regulatory interactions, we extend the MLP to better account for how regulatory uncertainties shape innovation trajectories. Focusing on the governance of renewable energy transitions, our conceptual framework examines how pitching mitigates regulatory uncertainties and influences policy adaptation and institutional change. Using the case of wind energy development in Israel we illustrate how pitching affects niche-regime dynamics and the stabilization of emerging technologies. Our framework suggests that pitching not only secures regulatory approval but also shapes long-term regulatory environments, affecting the diffusion of innovations and the broader transition to sustainable energy systems. By introducing pitching to regulators as a critical but underexplored dynamic within the MLP, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the co-evolution of innovation, regulation, and policy adaptation in socio-technical transitions, specifically in the energy sector.