Is Kenya Ready for Electricity Open Access? Institutional and Regulatory Insights from Developed Economies

Abstract

Electricity Open Access refers to allowing access to electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure non-discriminatorily- to both consumers, distributors and generators. The intention is to open up competition in electricity sector’s retail and generation alike. Developed economies like the European Union member states, United States, and some parts of Australia have implemented different Open Access models and they have both experienced mixed outcomes in the process. This paper interrogates the regulatory and institutional readiness of Kenya’s framework. The underlying regulatory, legal, and institutional environments- with respect to Electricity Open Access readiness, are explored and correlated to the Open Access models in select developed economies. This includes appreciation of the historical evolutions that have seen Kenya’s unbundling of the electricity sector over the past three decades. The conceptual framework utilized in the study establishes the outcomes of open access initiatives in the sector as the variable that is dependent on interactions between market infrastructure capacity, institutional arrangements, and legal provisions. External feedback into the relationships is derived from analysis of other jurisdictions- borrowing from the theoretical frameworks of regulatory governance, new institutional economics, and electricity markets design.