Energy transition or incremental change? Green policy agendas and the adaptability of the urban energy regime in Los Angeles

•Theory-guided case study on the transition of the urban energy regime in Los Angeles.•Evaluation of the transformative capacity of environmental policies.•Assessment of the adaptability and innovation patterns of urban infrastructure regimes.•The policy changes have sustained the existing regime and unfold incrementally.

Drawing on recent research in urban policy studies and social studies of technology, this paper examines the capability of urban energy regimes in adapting to environmental policy pressures. Focusing on the case of the City of Los Angeles, we critically analyze the transformative capacity of the city׳s recent energy and climate policies and the innovation patterns of its urban infrastructure regime. This case study suggests that despite considerable success in switching from coal to renewable energies, the patterns of sociotechnical change in Los Angeles still tend to supplement and sustain the existing regime. Sociotechnical change in Los Angeles tends to unfold incrementally through adjustments within the established patterns of the existing regime.