The Electricity Sector in Russia

The electricity sector plays a vital role in the economy of Russia and the well being of its citizens. Already partly privatised, reform of the structure and regulation of the sector has been on and off the political agenda for years. As part of the OECD’s long-term active support for reform efforts in the Russian Federation, a meeting was held in Moscow in May 2001 among experts from OECD member countries and Russian officials to discuss what could be learned from the experiences of reform in electricity sectors in OECD countries. Key recommendations addressed restructuring – ensuring sufficient deconcentration in generation and independent, non-discriminatory control of grid access by separate ownership of generation and transmission – transmission pricing, universal service, institutional arrangements – empowering an independent regulator with transparent objectives, powers, processes and decisions – and transitional arrangements. Russia is unique, but many of the policy considerations in Russia will also be important in many other countries.