New Report Shines Light on Challenges of Providing Clean, Affordable Electricity in Asia

 

May 11 - U.S. Newswire

The governments of India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines must improve transparency and public participation in their electricity sectors to provide citizens with affordable, reliable and clean energy, concludes a new report.

Empowering People: A Governance Analysis of Electricity examines the decision-making processes leading to the design of and investment in electricity infrastructure in Southeast Asia. More than $6.5 trillion of investment is needed in the sector in developing countries by 2030. But there are questions about how well efforts to privatize electricity services have supported public interests and sustainable development targets such as the Millennium Development Goals.

"More open planning and regulatory processes can help manage trade offs, and allow for more investment in clean energy at affordable prices," said Smita Nakhooda of the World Resources Institute, one of the authors of the report.

The report is part of the Electricity Governance Initiative, a global partnership of non-governmental organizations engaged in national energy policy debates. The data analyzed in the report was collected by a partnership of 20 civil society organizations in the four countries.

Shantanu Dixit of Prayas Energy Group, and a co-author of the report, noted, "The energy sector policies of today have focused on financial viability and economic growth at the cost of neglecting institutions, governance, equity and sustainability. Unless this major shortcoming is addressed by promoting transparency, accountability and public participation in the policy making and regulation, crisis in the electricity sector can not be resolved."

The report was released today by the World Resources Institute at a United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development side meeting, featuring Mr. Hoetomo, Indonesia's Deputy Minister of Environmental Compliance. Indonesia is pursuing a new "crash program" to develop 10,000 MW of power by 2010. As new companies enter the playing field, good governance will be essential to prevent corruption, and ensure that viable projects result.

ABOUT THE ELECTRICITY GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE

The Electricity Governance Initiative (EGI) is a collaboration of civil society, policy-makers, regulators, and other electricity sector actors to promote the open, transparent, and accountable decision-making processes that are necessary to reach a socially and environmentally sustainable energy future. The EGI is a joint undertaking of the World Resources Institute and Prayas Energy Group (India). The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (India) was centrally involved in developing the EGI indicator toolkit and implementing the assessments in Asia. EGI is a partnership for sustainable development registered with the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

PRAYAS ENERGY GROUP

Prayas is a registered charitable trust based in Pune, India. Its activities cover four substantive areas: health, energy, learning and parenthood, and resources and livelihoods. Prayas engages in policy analysis and advocacy in the electricity sector and capability-building of institutions in civil society.

WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE

The World Resources Institute is an independent, non-partisan, and nonprofit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts, mapmakers, and communicators developing and promoting policies that will help protect the Earth and improve people's lives.

World Resources Institute (US)

Jonathan Talbot, External Relations, +1(202)729-7828, jtalbot@wri.org

SOURCE World Resources Institute

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