The Electricity Governance Initiative (EGI) is a collaboration of civil society, policy-makers, regulators, and sector actors to promote the open, transparent, and accountable decision-making processes that are necessary to reach a socially and environmentally sustainable energy future. EGI is jointly collaborated by the World Resources Institute and Prayas Energy Group (India).
Why Electricity Governance?
The processes and institutions that shape how decisions are made in the electricity sector influence the success of policy and reform efforts. Electricity reforms undertaken through closed political processes with inadequate public input have focused on attracting private investment and have generally overlooked social and environmental concerns. If reform processes are to bring about meaningful change, they must be supported by systems of good governance guided by transparency, participation, and accountability.
Creating Space for Public Interests in Decision-Making
EGI has developed a toolkit of more than 60 research questions that generate indicators of relative strength and weakness in electricity decision-making processes. These indicators evaluate policy and regulatory processes, with an emphasis on environmental and social issues. Since 2005, coalitions of civil society organizations in India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines have partnered with EGI to improve electricity sector governance.
Generating New Dialogue
EGI creates a new dialogue and dynamic between sector officials and civil society groups. Our partners complete assessments of electricity governance using the EGI toolkit in close consultation with an advisory panel that includes government, utility, and private-sector representatives. We bring stakeholders who often talk past each other together to discuss how to advance meaningful change.
Select Publications
The Electricity Governance Toolkit :Benchmarking Best Practice and Promoting Accountability in the Electricity Sector
The Toolkit consists of more than 60 indicators that address policy and regulatory processes in the electricity sector, with an emphasis on social and environmental issues. The toolkit is the product of an extensive external review process in 2004, and was pilot tested in Thailand, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines in 2005. This 2007 version of the toolkit has undergone significant revisions to reflect lessons learned from the pilot phase of assessments and additional expert input collected.
Clean Energy Regulation and Civil Society in India: Need and challenges to effective participation
Electricity Governance in India
Please visit electricitygovernance.wri.org for more information on Electricity Governance Initiative, Partners, Publications and Activities.