The Netherlands was one of the first countries to adopt integral Energy Transition policy from 2001 onwards. However, in 2011 the energy transition policy project was officially abolished, but the concept of an ‘energy transition’ did stick as a way to talk about and interpret changes that are on-going in the (Dutch) energy sector. But what exactly changes, what the drivers for change are and at what speed things should change, is disputed. The premise of this research is that what changes are observed is dependent on the point of view of the observer. This thesis is part of the academic field of transition studies. Transitions are fundamental changes in society or societal subsystems such as the energy domain. The idea is that such changes can be studied by distinguishing three levels within a system: niche-level, where innovative practices develop; the regime-level that provides stability and continuity; and the landscape level that encompasses long term trends and external shocks to a system. A successful transition is the result of long-term interaction between and within these various levels. The regime level is generally seen as resisting change. However, its exact functioning in an on-going transition challenge has not been studied in detail yet. This research aims to address this gap in the transitions literature by exploring the energy transition from the point of view of regime actors in the Dutch energy domain. Insights from discourse theory suggest people will recognize and interpret events and changes differently. This implies that different regime actors will interpret the changes in the energy system differently. This could lead to confusion, insecurity and conflict over the dominant storyline or ‘discursive regime destabilisation’ as this process has been coined. Data were gathered using argumentative discourse analysis (ADA). The main element of analysis in ADA is storylines, a generative sort of narrative that allows actors to draw upon various discursive categories to give meaning to specific ...