Power fluctuations became a defining feature of everyday life across post-Soviet spaces. They exposed the vulnerability of established social and political orders, because energy was no longer reliably available, and access to it came at considerable economic, political, and social cost. Building on the observation that energy supply and energy security have been at the heart of multiple crises since 1991, the project analyses fragile cultures of energy use during the ongoing transformation processes in Moldova, Kazakhstan, and Georgia from a comparative perspective.

The project contributes to broader debates on social cohesion and public expectations of state capacity during periods of profound societal change. The concept of "power fluctuations" serves as a guiding analytical framework that brings together three interrelated perspectives. First, coping with energy shortages became a constitutive feature of everyday life in post-Soviet societies shaped by growing energy vulnerability. Second, the project highlights the infrastructural dimensions of energy provision and security. Wherever interconnected energy systems became fragile or failed to meet new demands, power fluctuations emerged as a visible manifestation of infrastructural weakness and a widely perceived public concern. Third, the term also refers to the political conflicts surrounding energy supply and infrastructure, whose forms, dynamics, and intensity have evolved throughout the post-Soviet transformation.