Electricity open access – which allows customers to procure electricity from different generators on the electricity grid – has been widely recognized as an important tool to enable competition in the electricity market. Despite its advantages, the introduction of open-access legislation and its implementation have been fraught with challenges.
In the United States, the Federal Electricity Regulatory Commission (FERC) defined the regulatory structure for establishing open access in North America in 1996 through two major orders 888 and 889. Almost a decade later, India cautiously introduced open access to consumers through amendments to its Electricity Act in 2004. Today, Kenya recently released the Energy (Electricity Market, Bulk Supply, and Open Access) Regulations 2024, becoming one of the latest countries to legislate for open access.
In this webinar, speakers from each of these countries explore the challenges that the US and India have faced and continue to address in setting up the open access rules, and how Kenya, South Africa, and other countries with recent legislations can anticipate and leapfrog similar challenges as they move from legislation to implementation.
This webinar is part of the North x South Series (NxSS), an initiative of the Energy Opportunity Lab at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. NxSS facilitates interdisciplinary multi-country dialogue on salient energy topics, identifying common themes and cross-learnings among countries in the global north and global south.
Host:
Dr. Vivek Shastry, Senior Research Associate, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University
Moderator:
Sakshi Pawar, MPA Candidate, Columbia University SIPA
Opening Remarks:
Andrew Kamau, Co-Managing Director of Energy Opportunity Lab at the Center on Global Energy Policy (Opening remarks)
Speakers:
- Ann Josey, Fellow, Prayas Energy Group, India
- Abraham Silverman, Principal, SilverGreen Energy Consulting, USA
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This webinar will be hosted via Zoom. Advance registration is required. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email with access details. The event will be recorded and the video recording will be added to our website following the event.
This event is open to press, and registration is required to attend. For media inquiries or requests for interviews, please contact CGEP Communications (cgepmedia@columbia.edu).
For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.
