USAID

EPP Publications

EPP News

 

OVERVIEW

USEA established the Energy Partnership Program (EPP) with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for Asia, Africa and Latin America/Caribbean. EPP set up practitioner-to-practitioner, multi-year partnerships between U.S. and developing country utilities and regulatory agencies. These partnerships promoted the more efficient, sustainable, and environmentally sound supply and use energy through the transfer of (1) market-based approached and "best practices" for energy system operation and regulation and (2) measures to avoid, reduce and mitigate the climate impacts of energy sector activities.

Since 1995, USEA established over 40 utility and regulatory partnerships in over 20 USAID-assisted countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America/Caribbean. With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, USEA also set up a partnership in the People's Republic of China.

 

BENEFITS:

These partnerships provided an invaluable opportunity for senior executives of overseas utilities and regulatory agencies to observe and learn how their U.S. counterparts are structured, financed, managed and regulated. The program also enabled U.S. energy executives to understand the dynamics of non-U.S. energy markets and to forge international strategic alliances.

 

Partnership Benefits to U.S. Partners:

  • Helped identify and develop strategic partners;
  • Identified short and long-term business opportunities;
  • Developed staff capabilities and international awareness; and
  • Developed climate change mitigation activities 

Partnership Benefits to Non-U.S. Partners:

  • Allowed for a transfer of knowledge on market-based planning, international energy sector restructuring, and development experiences by peers;
  • Established advisory/commercial relationships to discuss changes affecting the industry, corporate structure and regulation of the energy industry;
  • Improved management performance; and
  • Increased energy efficiency.

 

STRUCTURE:

Work Plan

Once partners were selected, the participating organizations executed a Work Plan of activities for the fiscal year. This plan was developed under the guidance of USEA to ensure consistency with USAID guidelines and budgets. The Work Plan was designed to address the needs of the non-U.S. utility and the interests of the U.S. utility partner. Three or four specific issue areas were identified in the Work Plan and addressed during the partnership.

 

Typically, the energy partnerships focused on such key issues as:

  • Energy efficiency
  • Restructuring
  • Commercialization and financial management
  • Transmission and distribution improvement
  • Regulation
  • Energy pricing
  • Environmental improvement
  • Renewable energy

 

Activities:

Executive business trips between partners were the principal activities of the partnership program. EPP can support a wide variety of policy & technology executive business trips. Ultimately, however, the level of available USAID funds and in-kind contributions from the partners determined how many activities can be accomplished each year.

 

Typically, a partnership was established for a two-year period, in which 3-4 executive business trips are made per year, evenly divided between the U.S. and overseas partners, depending on the availability of senior staff of both partners to participate. Thus, over the course of the two year partnership, a total of 6-8 executive business trips were made, of which 3-4 were at the U.S. partner and 3-4 at the overseas partner.

 

Costs:

Partners donated their time, supplies and materials, and administrative support to the partnership, while USAID/USEA funding paid for airfare, lodging, and meals.

 

RESULTS (Deliverables and Accomplishments):

The purpose of the partnership program was to promote the more efficient, sustainable, and environmentally sound supply and use energy through the transfer of (1) market-based approached and "best practices" for energy system operation and regulation and (2) measures to avoid, reduce and mitigate the climate impacts of energy sector activities.

 

For each issue area in the Work Plan, the partners agreed on the completion of a measurable result, known as a deliverable or accomplishment, to be completed. For example, deliverables might include the drafting and adoption of a specific policy or management procedure, completion of a handbook for new procedures, or the installation of a new technology or computer management system, preparation of restructuring a plant, drafting new or revised regulations/guidelines for independent power, etc.

 

EPP IN REVIEW:

EPP achieved significant program results in the areas of the environment, energy efficiency, corporate restructuring and management improvement, and regulation, including the following:

 

Environment

  • In the Philippines, the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO) is being advised by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) on the installation of 1 MW of solar power in the city of Cagayan de Oro 1, and may use SMUD as a procurement agent to purchase materials and equipment to install this new capacity. 


Energy Efficiency in Generation, Transmission, and Distribution

  • The PT PLN Java-Bali Power Company I (PJB1) of Indonesia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Portland General Operations Company, Inc. (PGO) in April, 1999 to cooperatively review and evaluate proposals for possible modernization and/or rehabilitation projects of its hydro-electric plants.
  • The Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO) has implemented several demand side management projects in the Philippines, including the replacement of inefficient air conditioners and lighting for commercial and residential customers, modeled from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). CEPALCO is also conducting energy audits for residential and commercial customers - a process modeled directly from SMUD - to identify how customers use electricity.  
  • Karnataka Electricity Board (KEB) of Southern India and Energy Line are finalizing a pilot automation program to improve distribution efficiencies, offsetting pollution by eliminating the need for consumer back-up diesel generators.

 

Corporate Restructuring and Management Improvement

  • The Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) of the Philippines is implementing an Activity Based Costing (ABC) system based on the Central and South West (CSW) system. The implementation of this accounting tool will lead to more efficient use of resources by Meralco and be reflected to customers through improved reliability and/or stable or reduced rates.
  • Iligan Light & Power, Inc. of the Philippines is re-engineering its procurement and distribution designs based on models provided by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). This process will reduce operating costs and will improve the efficiency of overall distribution system operation.
  • Through a March, 1999 workshop on decentralization, the Iowa Utilities Board, Florida Public Service Commission and the Oregon Public Utilities Commission assisted ANEEL, the federal regulatory agency for Brazil, in training Brazilian state PUCs. ANEEL has committed to adopting FPSC ethical standards for participants in IPP solicitations, and has improved human resources policies based on policies learned from the partnership with the three PUCs.
  • Indonesia’s PT PLN Java-Bali Power Company I (PJB1) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Portland General Operations Company, Inc. (PGO) in April, 1999 to review PJB1’s procurement of utility products and services, with the possible outcome of PJB1 negotiating a Procurement Project Agreement with PGO.
  • In the Philippines, the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO) has developed and implemented a key accounts system for handling large customers based on lessons learned from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). It has also formed a business strategy team to lead in strategic planning development, the creation of which resulted from information received through interactions with SMUD.
  • The Guatemalan market coordination organization, Administrador del Mercado Mayorista (AMM), participated in a USAID/USEA executive business trip with the Southern Company, Tampa Electric, and PJM in August, 1999. The visit allowed the Guatemalans to identify state of the art procedures, systems and equipment used in the U.S. for the development of the wholesale market and a new dispatch center in Guatemala.

 

Regulation

  • A July 1999 executive business trip visit between the Public Service Commission of Maryland (PSC) and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission of Ghana (PURC) resulted in PURC adopting new tariff guidelines.
  • The Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission in India adopted performance based regulation, linking tariffs with performance, based on policies of the DC Public Service Commission and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
  • India's Central Electricity Regulator Commission (CERC) has developed grid codes based on those of the Federal Electricity Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications & Energy (MDTE)

 

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