OUTLOOK 2016: LatAm steps up stakeholder engagement

State-centralized energy policymaking gave way to wider participation in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2015.

Growing opposition and scrutiny has prompted governments to expand public engagement as stakeholders, in particular citizens, seek a greater voice in sector planning.

An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study highlights that such efforts offer a way for governments to improve their policy performance by working with citizens, civil society organizations, businesses and other stakeholders to deliver concrete improvements in policy outcomes and the quality of public services.

This approach is evident in the formal energy policymaking processes underway in the region, such as those in Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Panama.

CHILE

"The objective is to build a shared vision for the future development of the energy sector with the social, political and technical validation required to transform itself in state energy policy."

The government goal describes Energía 2050 which was presented in July 2014 as a "historic" process.

The 18-month initiative looks to create laws and regulations covering energy efficiency, natural gas, NCRE, transmission and relations with indigenous communities.

COSTA RICA

"The construction of the energy policy was based on a citizen participation process that was transparent, dynamic and oriented to incorporate the greatest diversity of sectorial criteria. It is the first time that the formulation of this policy was submitted to such a wide consultation and participation process."

That is how the government summarized the one-year long Diálogo Nacional de Energía which concluded in September.

That month, President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera and environment and energy minister Edgar Gutiérrez Espeleta signed a decree approving a national energy plan for 2015-30 that promotes energy efficiency, distributed generation and alternative fuels.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

"The consultation phase should guarantee the means for any person that is interested in finding a solution to the problems of the power sector to be able to express themselves and participate."

The paragraph is part of the decree signed by President Danilo Medina in October 2014 that kicked off the Pacto Eléctrico, which is in the final phase.

The government aims to reach a consensus on a new power generation, transmission, distribution and commercialization model, which would ensure quality standards are met and that costs are lower and more stable.

PANAMA

"The national dialogue on energy will be a space of plural and participative debate that will define a road map for the next 35 years, facilitating perspectives, inputs and proposals of the country's social, political and economic actors."

Energy secretary Víctor Urrutía made the comment last month at the launch of workgroups to discuss the drafting of the Plan Energético Nacional 2015-30, consultation for which began in August.

The plan's pillars are energy efficiency, increased use of renewables, universal access and supply security.