With the growing dependence on electricity, modern societies are exposed to the risk of cascading failures of interconnected societal functions. To maintain societal functions during power shortages, Sweden implemented a planning process, Styrel, which involves a multi-level system of actors from the national, regional and local level. The regional level operates as co-ordinator between public and private actors in networks, as part of the Swedish crisis management system. This study examines the central position of the County Administrative Board (CAB) in Styrel and the collaboration and co-operation between the planning levels that interact during the process. The focus is on the interactions between the CAB and each related actor. This study collected evidence from interviews with planners who are entrusted with the execution of Styrel within their area of responsibility and a survey among all CABs, which are additionally responsible for supervision during the conduct of the planning.
The analysis indicates that the outcome of the process relies on the commitment of the decision-makers to achieve common understanding about the importance of infrastructure assets and to mediate the regional collaboration. The level of trust between the planning stages seems likely to have further impact on the achieved emergency response plan. Moreover, the planner’s perceptions regarding the significance of the planning task, the likelihood of occurrence of a power shortage or outage situation and the risk and crisis management capability of the region can influence the effectiveness of this complex multi-level planning. Thus, this paper reveals that the regional level lacks awareness about its central role in the Swedish approach. In addition, the CABs lack knowledge and resources to fulfil its dedicated functions in the Swedish planning for critical infrastructure protection. With insights from the Styrel approach, this paper highlights the interrelated network around the regional centre. It contributes thereby to the international discussion about the identification, prioritisation and protection of critical infrastructure for mitigating consequences of power failures for a depending society.