USEA/USAID Energy Partnership Program

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USEA/USAID Energy Partnership Program

• Partnering the world of
• energy management
• Gordon Weynand, Energy Team Leader, USAID
• Barry Worthington, Executive Director, USEA
• James Connelly, Commissioner, MDTE

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Gordon WeynandEnergy Team Leader,United States
Agency for International Development Bureau for
Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade
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Sustaining Economic Growth

• There is a need for energy prices to encourage
  reliable economic growth and job creation
• Expensive, unreliable electricity cripples
  economies and restrict job opportunities

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Lack of Commercial Electricity

• Hospitals cannot refrigerate vaccines
• Schools cannot provide adequate lighting
• Farmers cannot use pumps to irrigate their fields
• Clean water systems cannot function

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Energy Security

• Adequate energy infrastructure is critical for
  combating unemployment, illiteracy, the spread of
  infectious disease, environmental degradation,
  and the cycle of poverty in developing countries
• Poverty and instability pose an increasingly
  significant geopolitical risk to countries around
  the world

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USAIDS ROLE IN ENERGY

• Access to affordable, reliable, clean, and
  efficient energy services is essential to
  breaking the cycle of poverty and achieving
  sustainable development
• Public/Private Partnerships
• Technical Assistance
• Training

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Barry WorthingtonExecutive Director,United
States Energy Association
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About the Energy Partnership Program

• Practioner-to-practioner partnerships
• Transferring commercially viable, market-oriented
  approaches to overseas electric and gas
  utilities, as well as energy regulators
• Result in a two-way exchange of best practices
  between the US and overseas partners

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Quantity of Partnerships (since conception in
1990)

• 81 partnerships in 30 developing countries
• Over 12,000 executives have participated pro bono
• 58 million in donated time and expertise

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EPP Key Issue Areas

• Efficiency Gains in Electricity Transmission
• Improving grid codes
• Improving system maintenance
• Operating regional transmission networks
• Energy Regulation
• Improving public hearings process
• Improving license procedures
• Improving staff management

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EPP Key Issue Areas (continued)

• Best Practices in Electricity Distribution
• Billing and metering
• Tariff collection
• Management of technical losses and theft
• Accurate and Informed Energy Reporting by the
  Media
• Key energy issues
• Journalism standards

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EPP Key Issue Areas (continued)

• Energy Markets
• Rules of participation in regional market
• Financing independent market operator
• Regional regulation
• Power Generation
• Financing new generation
• Improving maintenance of power plants
• Optimizing contracts with Independent Power
  Producers

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Partnership Outcomes

• Results impact reliability, affordability,
  economic viability, and social environmental
  sustainability improving the reliability and
  access of commercial electric delivery
• Examples include
• Rules and financial contributions of membership
  in the West Africa Power Pool are based on the
  Southwest Power Pool in Little Rock, Arkansas
• BENEFIT Allows self-financing and improved
  reliability in region

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Partnership Outcomes (continued)

• Dhaka Electric Supply Company in Bangladesh
  (DESCO) established a handbook of maintenance
  practices based on the Sacramento Municipal
  Utility District and Clark Public Utilities of
  Washington State
• BENEFIT Saving money on maintenance to apply
  towards improved service
• The Office of Utility Regulation in Jamaica
  improved its power reporting requirements based
  on the Missouri and Rhode Island regulatory
  commissions
• BENEFIT Now able to inform customers of power
  outages and expected restoration

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Partnership Outcomes (continued)

• In Angola, the national distribution company is
  developing a slum electrification program with
  the assistance of a utility in Salvador, Brazil
• BENEFIT Replication of a successful
  international program to help reach an
  underserved population
• The Armenian Regulatory Commission developed a
  tariff methodology for natural gas with the help
  of the Kentucky Public Service Commission
• BENEFIT Sustainable gas service to ensure supply
  to consumers

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Partnership Outcomes (continued)

• In Mongolia, the regulatory commission has
  adopted a life-line tariff due to exposure of
  similar tariffs in the program
• BENEFIT Societys poorest consumers have access
  to affordable electricity
• The Bhutan Power Corporation adopted a
  performance based incentive system after seeing
  it in Southern Africa
• BENEFIT Improves performance for customers

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Unexpected Outcomes

• Positive Surprise
• Existing practices confirmed by comparing against
  standards of US partners
• Growth of interest from potential international
  partners
• Negative surprise (obstacle)
• Information is not readily shared between
  participants and field staff who are not chosen
  for exchange activities

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Future Challenges/ Next Steps

• Funding and incorporating the many countries who
  wish to participate into the program
• Insuring that overseas partners utilize the
  information received by U.S. companies

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James ConnellyCommissioner, Massachusetts
Department of Telecommunications and Energy
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Example from Partner (Massachusetts Commission)

• How the partnership operated
• In MA, staff were matched with counterparts who
  oversee Benchmarks and Performance Measurement,
  Customer Service Dispute Resolution, and
  Performance Based Cost of Service Regulation

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Example from Partner (Massachusetts Commission)

• Lessons learned from Massachusetts
• Administrative Law importance and application
• Due Process Hearings Transparency and balance
  of interests
• Appellate Procedures How cases are considered
  by a regulatory commission

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Example from Partner (Massachusetts Commission)

• The Central Energy Regulatory Commission of India
  developed a two-part, performance-based tariff
  based on MDTEs tariff structure
• MDTE provided the National Electrification
  Administration and Energy Regulatory Board of the
  Philippines with its experience in utility
  restructuring
• MDTE provided the Romanian regulatory agency with
  tariffs and operational rules when it was first
  developing its own tariffs

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Example from Partner (Massachusetts Commission)

• MDTE gave the Egyptian commission software valued
  at over 100,000 to track customer calls and data
  to develop a call center
• MDTE met with the Pakistani regulators and
  provided them with information to set
  sustainable, market-based tariffs

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Example from Partner (Massachusetts Commission)

• MDTE gave the Egyptian regulators the following
  documents to help in developing Egypts rules and
  operations
• copies of MA laws, rules and regulations used to
  ensure independent decision making
• Copies of MA license applications and rules of
  licenses
• Sample transcript of a MA license hearing

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Example from Partner (Massachusetts Commission)

• Partnership was also beneficial for MDTE
• Developed staff presentation skills
• Exposure to international regulatory practices
  and how they compare with the NE region of the
  United States

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Questions?