Transparency and Consumer Protection

Focus Areas

Poor electricity and hydropower governance has seriously affected the lives of citizens in Central Asia. In recent years, the prevalence of electricity cuts and blackouts in upstream countries has highlighted the shortcomings of relevant institutions and the authorities that manage energy delivery in the region. The core of these shortcomings centers on the lack of transparency accountability in public utilities. Processes involving generation of electricity and its distribution as well as investments in and revenues created by the sector should be open to public review.

The Central Eurasia Project funds research that sheds light on the formal and informal set-up of the energy sector primarily in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but also in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Pakistan. It also funds networking activities such as conferences, study visits and roundtables between researchers, practitioners, politicians and other stakeholders from the US, the EU and Central Asia.

On an operational level, the project provides resources to support organizations that work to enhance electricity and hydropower governance in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia within the framework of the Electricity Governance Initiative, a network of national groups located in South-East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Africa and South America that seeks to promote better governance in the electricity sector.