Regulation of the Electricity Industry in Bolivia: Its Impact on Access to the Poor, Prices and Quality

The odd part of antimonopoly provisions within the regulatory framework of SIRESE - and for
that matter, of any regulatory institution with similar provisions - is that it actually grants
monopoly rights for activities to be carried out in the sectors that fall under its jurisdiction. In
most countries where regulatory and competition institutions have a longer tradition, these two
activities have been kept separate because it is assumed that regulating industries and enforcing
antimonopoly provisions are two very different things which in many cases will run counter to
each other. Where as regulating, say, the electricity industry will in many instances involve
granting of concessions - i.e., granting a monopoly right - enforcing competition provisions will
inevitably dismantle the rights obtained under that concession. It is a matter of current debate
whether SIRESE has been successful at balancing its regulation and antimonopoly
responsibilities in an efficient and impartial way.

3. The Electricity Industry Before and After Regulation

The electricity industry in Bolivia has traditionally been the most developed among so called
public utilities. It is also the one with the longest experience with regulation, and hence a
convenient benchmark to analyze the Bolivian regulatory experience thus far. Despite these
accomplishments, and as Table 3.1 suggests, Bolivia is not only among the least developed
economies in the Americas, it is also among the least electricity-producing and consuming
countries of the region.

Table 3.1

Selected Indicators for a Sample of American Countries, Year 2001

Source: Globastat

The Americas entry for all except population represents a simple average for North, Central, South American and Caribbean countries.
The population entry for the Americas represents Total Population

Electricity prices correspond to the year 1999
na: not applicable

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