LIST OF PANELS

Since the 1990s, international actors have intensively promoted the establishment of independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) to accompany electricity sector reforms in developing countries. Accordingly, IRAs were meant to be the central actors in the implementation of new market-based electricity policies and operate at arm’s length from governmental actors.
 
30 years after the start of this process, we know that, whereas IRAs have indeed been subject to a wide diffusion in the developing countries, they have often not emerged as the independent and central regulatory authorities in electricity sector according to the governance model of IRA based regulation. When created, IRAs face different types of challenges, such as a lack of capacity, limited delegated powers and important political pressures (Rosenzweig et al. 2004, Pollitt and Stern 2011, Dubash and Morgan 2012). Policymakers have even refrained from setting up IRAs altogether in many countries.
 
Hence, if electricity regulation is often not dominated by IRAs, how is it governed? What is the actual role of IRAs? Who are the other actors taking part in regulation? Those actors that pre-existed sectoral reforms are expected to continue playing a major role. Governments, ministries and former incumbent companies are probably still dominating the sector in many cases. But sectoral reforms and recent developments have also paved the way for the emergence of new actors. New economic players have entered the sector on those segments subject to competition. Companies operating in electricity generation or retail may have gained an important influence in sectoral regulation. More recently, the shift towards renewable energies also bears the potential to transform electricity governance, perhaps with the involvement of ministries in charge of environmental issues, or newly created agencies in charge of fostering renewable energies.
 
Actors’ constellations in electricity governance is subject to empirical variation across countries. Actors specialized in renewable energies may play a major role in some countries and not in others. IRAs may be relatively powerful in some countries but inexistent in others. These patterns are also likely to evolve over time, as sectoral policies are sometimes subject to substantive modifications. How can we explain these outcomes? How can we make sense of the empirical variation that characterizes electricity governance in the Global South? Different types of explanations can be explored, for example the types of developmental policies preferred, political regimes, the ideology of governments in charge of adopting reforms, the influence of the sectoral bureaucracy, or links to international funding organizations.

References
 
Dubash NK, Morgan B (2012) Understanding the Rise of the Regulatory State of the South, Regulation & Governance 6 (3): 261‑81.
 
Rosenzweig MB, Voll SP, Pabon-Agudelo C (2004) Power Sector Reform: Experiences from the Road, The Electricity Journal 17 (9): 16‑28.
 
Pollitt M, Stern J (2011) Human Resource Constraints for Electricity Regulation in Developing Countries: Developments since 2001, Utilities Policy 19 (2): 53‑60.

This panel aims at exploring the transformation of electricity governance in developing countries - beyond the model based on independent regulatory agencies (IRAs). We are looking for in papers shedding light at aspects of sectoral governance that go beyond the IRA-centered governance model, either by looking at IRAs from a different perspective (e.g. IRAs’ interactions with other sectoral stakeholders) or by underlying the role played by other actors in sectoral governance (e.g. generation companies, renewable energies agency). Although papers exploring empirical variation (across countries or over time) will be particularly appreciated, we also welcome single case studies. We also have a preference for papers including explanatory dimension, i.e. papers that present both a description of sectoral governance and an explanation for the governance patterns identified but purely descriptive papers will also be considered. If you have a doubt about whether your paper might fit the panel, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us to discuss it. We look forward to your submissions!