Publication Type: Books and book chapters

The Practice and Politics of Regulation: Regulatory Governance in Indian Electricity

Summary

This volume examines how Indian electricity regulators in three states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi – function in practice. The goal is to contribute to debates on the role of regulators in electricity reform and on the institution of regulation in India. Drawing on extensive interviews with regulators, government and stakeholders, the authors explore the regulatory decision-making process. They develop insights into the influence of politics, public participation, and the reform context on outcomes, and the implications of each for future evolution of regulatory institutions in India. This book is useful to policy-makers in utility sectors, electricity experts, regulators from a range of sectors and academics and NGOs interested in delivery of public services.

Read more

Power Politics: Equity and Environment in Electricity Reform

Summary

In Power Politics, Navroz K Dubash and contributors from around the world show how electricity reform is, at root, an issue of sustainable development. Electricity reform represents an opportunity to focus attention on the 1.7 billion of the world’s poor without access to electricity. It could also be an opportunity to align investor incentives along a trajectory toward a clean energy future, one that reduces emissions of greenhouse gases while promoting development and supporting livelihoods. The concern is not solely one of a missed opportunity. Inappropriately done, electricity reform could hinder progress toward a more socially and environmentally sustainable energy future. Drawing on six country studies – Argentina, Bulgaria, Ghana, India, Indonesia, and South Africa – the contributors to this volume examine whether and how the process of electricity reform can support rather than hinder sustainable development. Instead of sustainable development, they find that financial concerns and donor conditions have driven electricity reform. Managed by closed political processes and dominated by technocrats and donor consultants, social factors play a limited role, and environmental considerations play almost no role in a re-envisioned electricity sector. Drawing on a detailed analysis of the political economy of electricity reform in the six country studies, the study concludes with recommendations toward a more equitable and sustainable electricity future.

Read more

A Watershed in Global Governance: An Independent Assessment of the World Commission on Dams

Introduction

The World Commission on Dams (WCD) was a self-styled “experiment” in global public policy-making. It was set up to produce a set of international guidelines for the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of large dams and options on their alternatives. The WCD undertook this task over two years, with a pledge to be independent, transparent, inclusive and representative of a diverse body of stakeholders. Participants in the process have included dam-building companies, multilateral development banks, affected people’s groups and other non-governmental organizations, private consultants, and the public at large.

Read more