Regulatory Governance of Off-Grid Electrification

Abstract

The general principles of regulatory governance need to be understood as models which may need adjustment to differing service contexts; this is particularly the case where, as with rural off-grid electricity, the service context is defined as small scale and local, and is likely to be characterised by significant deficits in infrastructure, resources, and institutions. The challenge then is to construct an institutional framework that can provide an efficient service on an inclusive social basis, while ensuring local accountability. This may sometimes involve the need to create new institutions, whether of delivery or regulation, but is more often likely to mean an adaptation and reinvigoration of existing institutions. It is essential to go beyond narrower, ‘technical’ approaches to regulation since in the public policy arena these are necessarily embedded in wider social and political contexts. Specific policy initiatives such as off-grid rural electrification will not succeed if these wider contexts are neglected in policy design and implementation. This chapter presents general principles of regulatory governance; examines some of the analytical problems involved in arriving at an agreed model; and assesses the issues of policy and practice that arise in relating existing principles and models to specific initiatives and interventions in the field of rural off-grid electrification.