Regulators in emerging markets must improve energy reliability, grow supply, and add large quantities of wind and solar in an environment characterized by limited financial and institutional resources. And yet proponents of development and reform tend to prescribe regulatory strategies from rich countries that aren’t facing the same challenges, with generally poor outcomes.

In a new policy memo published by Energy for Growth Hub, PESD associate director Mark Thurber explains why "best practices" approaches remain so popular, why they miss the mark, and how situational regulation can improve outcomes.