This study intends to contribute to the understanding of the role of political local players as drivers of energy policies in Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ), from a standard conservative modernization, with a patronage logic. For this, a contextualization of the city of Campos dos Goytacazes, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, was done to show how some national energy policies directly affected the local economy, changing the regional reality and led to reflections arising from the activities implemented by these policies. The concepts of conservative modernization and patronage were used to show how them apply clearly in Campos dos Goytacazes context but depends in part on the energy of the oil exploration policy in the region. Finally, it seeks to demonstrate how the process of conservative modernization continues operating with a patronage logic in the municipality of Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ).