The Paradox of Suspended Expectation:

Global Promises and Local Experiences in the Energy Transition in the Argentine Puna (Olacapato, Salta)

Abstract

This article analyzes and compares the expectations of residents in Olacapato (Salta, Argentina) regarding the installation of utility-scale solar plants in 2023 and 2024. Drawing on surveys, interviews, and participant observation, it reconstructs community meanings around the energy transition in a peripheral territory marked by structural inequalities. Findings reveal a paradox: while nearly all households support the idea that the plants should inject electricity directly into the town, perceptions of concrete impacts shift from early optimism toward uncertainty and polarization. In 2023, the dominant view was the absence of visible results; by 2024, a state of “suspended expectation” prevails—most residents report no tangible benefits, while a minority perceives excessive impacts. The analysis articulates sociotechnical imaginaries with the notions of infra-/supra-hábitat (everyday practices and needs versus state-corporate, largescale infrastructures) and the lens of energy justice, showing how the transition can reproduce territorial inequalities. The Olacapato case indicates that symbolic acceptance of mega projects does not guarantee energy justice or local improvements; rather, it coexists with tensions between modernizing promises and community experience. Rethinking the transition “from below” thus becomes essential if renewable energies are to function as a common good in dispersed rural territories.