Solar middle ground: NGOs as regulatory intermediaries in renewable energy governance

Renewable energy, solar in particular, has become central to global decarbonization efforts. Yet its deployment often exposes tensions between centralized planning frameworks and localized realities, raising questions about how decision-making and legitimacy are negotiated in practice. This study examines the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as regulatory intermediaries in Israel's solar energy sector. Drawing on a qualitative case study, it analyzes how NGOs navigate institutional complexity and mediate across three key arenas: among regulators, between regulators and developers, and between regulators and communities. NGOs translate procedures, resolve institutional frictions, and amplify community voices, helping bridge fragmented governance domains. The study contributes to renewable energy governance literature by showing how NGOs coordinate implementation beyond official mechanisms, and to regulatory intermediation theory by highlighting how influence is exercised not through formal authority, but through credibility, procedural fluency, and embedded engagement across state, market, and society.