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China has developed one of the most comprehensive and effective sets of energy efficiency policies and programs in the world. This has been an arduous task over decades, involving the government, businesses, and civil society. Although success has abounded in many areas, China's programs are not perfect, and the development process has often been one of improving, adjusting, and reinforcing. Some of the strengths of China's effort have been (a) good organization, (b) focus on overcoming implementation difficulties at local levels as well as development of national policies and programs, (c) an effective blending of market-based energy efficiency investment and service mechanisms with new law-based regulations, and (d) investments in institutional development to provide the foundation for long-term gains. The process, experience, and results of the 40-year effort provide an amazingly rich bank of lessons for other countries with aspirations for energy efficiency gains, which this report strives to describe. One of the most telling macro indicators of China's success is the reversal of a trend of increasing energy use per unit GDP beginning in 2006 and continuing thereafter, delinking growth in energy consumption from growth in GDP. Energy use per unit GDP had fallen during the 1980s and 1990s, in part due to energy conservation efforts but mainly due to economic structural change as China's economy began to mature. This changed in the early 2000s, however, as yet more rapid industrial growth brought increases in China's energy intensity. China's leadership recognized that this continued resource-intensive development over the long haul was physically almost impossible, economically inferior, and environmentally unacceptable. With calls to build a less resource-intensive society, the country sharply increased its efforts to improve energy efficiency, building on past programs and adding new ones in a comprehensive effort. The focus was on achieving results. The trend of increasing energy intensity was bent downward, and energy intensity began to decline again, even as rapid industrial and economic growth continued.

Energy --- Energy Demand --- Energy Efficiency --- Energy Policies and Economics --- Energy Sector Regulation

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On 28 May, 2013, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted decree numbers 449 on the mechanism for the promotion of renewable energy (RE) on the wholesale electricity and capacity market. Decree numbers 449 integrates support for renewable energy sources for electricity (RES-E) into the capacity market. This is a very different approach to that applied in most of the existing support mechanisms in other countries, where RES-E is promoted on the basis of the electricity output (MWh) rather than the installed capacity (MW or MW per month) of RE installations. Promoting RES-E through the capacity market is a way for the Russian authorities to overcome some of the legal and technical challenges faced by previous support initiatives and, importantly, to control the costs of RE. This approach fits well with the specific regulatory architecture of the Russian wholesale electricity market, which comprises both an energy and capacity segment. This report introduces Russia's new capacity-based scheme and examines how the Russian authorities have integrated the variability of RE sources into the regulation of capacity supply. This analysis will highlight the risk of legal uncertainty affecting the business case for RE investors under the capacity-based scheme. For more publications on IFC Sustainability please visit www.ifc.org/sustainabilitypublications.

Electric Power --- Energy --- Energy Demand --- Energy Policies & Economics --- Energy Privatization --- Energy Regulation --- Public Investment --- Renewable Energy

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The primary objective of this project was to identify options for addressing barriers to financing, for scaling up EE implementation in public buildings in the Philippines. Section two of this report provides a summary of the available data on public buildings, including the energy consumption characteristics of government buildings and facilities, estimates of the potential for energy savings, and investments needed. Section three discusses some of the barriers to financing EE that has been seen in other countries, and summarizes such barriers in the public sector in the Philippines, including legal and regulatory barriers; lack of access to commercial financing; institutional barriers; and limited implementation capacity. Section four provides information about international experience in the financing of public sector EE projects. It includes a review of six different financing mechanisms: budget financing; EE revolving funds; dedicated EE credit lines; risk-sharing programs; public or super ESCOs; and commercial financing using ESCOs and performance contracting. It also presents a comparative assessment of the key characteristics of each of these financing options. Section five identifies three options that are considered appropriate for implementation in the Philippines, budget financing, an EE revolving fund, and a public or super ESCO, and provides detailed information on each. It also presents information on the potential role of international financial institutions in providing complementary financial and technical assistance. Section six summarizes the advantages and limitations of the three proposed financing options; presents the World Bank's recommendations; and provides guidance on moving forward with the development of a national program.

Energy --- Energy and Environment --- Energy Consumption --- Energy Demand --- Energy Finance --- Energy Policies and Economics

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The objective of this review is to analyze the current status on achievement of targeted benefits from distribution privatization and identify the gaps between expectations and realizations, with a key task of proposing concrete procedures and methodologies to ensure that EMRA and other government agencies involved in monitoring and enforcing quality in electricity distribution and retail have timely access to reliable information on service actually provided by the DISCOMs to their customers. To reach these objectives, this report follows the following approach: section one presents an overview of the distribution sector and distribution privatization process; section two analyzes the existing regulatory framework related to DISCOM performance and provides expected performance targets in respective investment periods; section three analyzes the current status of DISCOMs' performance targets; section four identifies key issues and barriers in measuring and monitoring service quality in DISCOMs; and lastly, based on the global experience, section five recommends an approach for improving measuring and monitoring of service quality by the regulator.

Electric Power --- Energy --- Energy Policies & Economics --- Energy Privatization --- Private Sector Development --- Privatization --- Public Sector Governance

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The level of performance of an electric utility is determined by the soundness of its financial situation, the efficiency of its technology, and the quality of service it provides customers. Its financial underpinning is a balance of costs and revenue (from customer payments, government, and other sources). But revenue is not as straightforward as it might seem. The concept of foregone cash addresses the 'cash on the table' that pays for operations and servicing debt (revenue collected divided by the cost of operations and debt). The problem is the table may not have all the cash that ought to be there, such as money owed because of nonpayment's by customers and money lost through inefficiencies in power generation or delivery. Consequently, there is a latent revenue that, if fixed, can provide vital improvements to a utility's financial performance. This note analyzes the elements involved in understanding foregone cash in the context of cost recovery.

Cost Recovery --- Electric Power --- Energy --- Energy Policies and Economics --- Energy Sector Regulation --- Power Sector Reform --- Utilities