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ENERGY REGULATION BOARD’S 20 YRS ANNIVERSARY WEEK LONG COMMEMORATION

Celebrating the Department's achievements, challenges, and future outlook in energy regulation, including innovations, collaborations, and successes.

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ENERGY REGULATION BOARD’S 20 YRS ANNIVERSARY WEEK LONG COMMEMORATION

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  1. LEGAL AND SECRETARIAL SERVICES (LSS) ENERGY REGULATION BOARD’S 20 YRS ANNIVERSARY WEEK LONG COMMEMORATION

  2. Outline • Overview of the Department • Departmental Functions • Extended Regulatory Services to Regional Offices • Overview of the Regulated Industry • Regulated Industry Players per Sub Sector • How the Department achieves its objectives • Current programme supporting mandate • Innovations to enhance the Regulatory Process • Regional Collaboration • Achievements / Successes • Challenges • Future Outlook

  3. Overview of the Department • Department of Legal and Secretarial Services (LSS) is comprised of 8 members of staff as shown in the organogram below. • The Department is headed by the Director Legal and Secretarial Services who is also the Board Secretary.

  4. Overview of the Department - Organogram

  5. Functions Of LSS The following are the functions of the LSS: • To provide legal advice to the Board and Management, to ensure that the interests of the Institution are protected; • To advise the Board on all legal matters and represent the Board in Courts of Law; • To scrutinize and advise the Board on all Licence applications; • To review the enabling legislation, propose amendments and recommend regulations for enactment;

  6. Functions Of LSS Cont’d… • To review contracts and agreements to which ERB is a party; • To review from a legal perspective internal policies and procedures; • To carry out enforcement action against non-compliant licensees; • To draft and file legal documents at court;

  7. Functions Of LSS Cont’d… • To interpret legislation and policies; • To facilitate the holding of all Board and Committee meetings; • To compile and distribute Board papers to be discussed at Board Meeting; and • To keep official records of the Board for all Board and Committee meetings;

  8. Extended Regulatory Services to Regional Offices • The Department’s main operations are centralized at Head Office in Lusaka. • However, legal and regulatory services (such as licensing, enforcement and legal services) are extended to regional offices in order to achieve country-wide presence.

  9. Overview of the Regulated Industry Regulated activities in the energy sector include the following sub-sectors: • Electricity • Petroleum; and • Renewable Energy

  10. Regulated Industry Players Per Sub Sector Regulated Industry players are categorized by Sub Sector, nature of undertaking and type of Licenses for each Sub Sector; Petroleum Products

  11. Regulated Industry Players Per Sub Sector Electricity Renewable Energy

  12. How The Department Achieves Its Objectives Departmental objectives of LSS are achieved as follows:- • Ensuring strict adherence to yearly departmental work-plan and performance contracts; • Ensuring strict adherence to laid down procedures; • Timely review of legislation, regulations, guidelines, operational manuals and licences in line with new developments in the energy sector;

  13. How The Department Achieves Its Objectives Cont’d • Implements the Licensing and Enforcement Procedures (Manuals). • Timely enforcement of Licence conditions and contraventions of the law, against non-compliant licensees and others; • Constant update of the licensing database for the energy sector;

  14. How The Department Achieves Its Objectives Cont’d • Conducting due diligence on all applicants before issuance of licences. • Timely publishing of applications in the Gov’t gazette to allow for public comments in line with the provisions of the Energy Regulation Act.

  15. Current Programme SupportingMandate • Review of all licenses in the energy sector; • Review of legislation applicable to the energy sector (Electricity, Energy Regulation and Petroleum Acts); • Development of the Management Information System to simplify the licensing workflow processes.

  16. Innovations to enhance the Regulatory Process • Conducting simultaneous assessment of licensing applications (technical and financial assessments) in order to reduce on processing time; • Introduction of inter-departmental service level agreements and service charter; • Stakeholder engagement relating to regulated activities; • Provision of information to potential investors through brochures, website, meetings, walk-in clients etc.

  17. Regional Collaboration • RERA legal subcommittee • Regulators from other regional groups • Collaborate with other Govt agencies through MoUs, information sharing (such as RTSA, ZEMA, CCPC, ZWMA, ZABS)

  18. Achievements / Successes • Increased compliance rates by licensees due to consistent enforcement of Licence conditions; • Predictable and consistence through issuance of provisional and quarterly issuance of Standard Licenses; • Simplified licensing procedures and light handed regulation for certain activities in line with the Business Regulatory Act (i.e. combining of certain licenses for specific regulated activities and simultaneous assessment of licence applications;

  19. Achievements / Successes • Collaboration with other Government agencies and other stakeholders; • Facilitation of entry of new investors in the energy sector through issuance of Licenses and Investment Endorsements (IEs); • Effective provision of policy guidance to Government on energy regulatory matters and other issues relating to the energy sector;

  20. Challenges of LSS • Incomplete licensing information submitted by applicants; • Delayed submission of Licence renewal applications; • Monopolistic tendencies by state owned enterprises (non-complianceto Board directives and licence conditions); • Thirty (30) days Legal Notice/Govt Gazette requirement lengthens the time within which licence is issued; and

  21. Challenges Of LSS • Gaps in the existing Legislation thereby making it difficult for LSS to effectively enforce Licence Conditions and the law (no summary civil penalties expressly provided); • Inadequate capacity to investigate and take action against unlicensed entities operation in the energy sector;

  22. Future Outlook • Online processing of Licenses; • Robust legislative framework to enhance regulatory mandate; • Shortening the processing time for licence application; • Open up some Board regulatory meetings to members of the public to enhance transparency; • Decentralization of the workflow licensing processes to the regional offices.

  23. End THANK YOU

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