Regulating PPP Projects in the Energy Sector: An Exploratory Survey of Skills Required

摘要

The involvement of the private sector in the provision of public services through concessions has been growing over the years and the energy sector has seen its own fair share of such concessions. Because these services have monopoly characteristics, regulatory institutions were set up to protect society from monopoly exploitation, inefficiencies and market failures. However, there has been a growing disenchantment with the state of service provision around the globe and consumers are blaming regulatory institutions' inability to protect them. The effectiveness of any regulatory institution is dependent on the expertise and competence of its staff. Therefore, this study seeks to determine the capacity requirement for effective regulatory governance and how best the present capacity gaps can be filled. This study reports the results of a survey of 101 energy industry stakeholders in public and private sectors across 35 countries. It was found that expertise in management, contract design, business analysis, project management, facilities management, risk management, ex-post negotiations, and sector-specific knowledge were crucial to the effective performance of regulatory institutions. Recruiting experts from the private sector was considered the most effective method of filling the capacity gaps in regulatory institutions.