reform paradigm (Jamasb et al., 2015; Vagliasindi and Besant-Jones, 2013; Williams and Ghanadan, 2006). As in the 1980s and 1990s, the financial performance of the power sector remains at the heart of this debate.

5. This paper aims to inform these debates in policy and academic circles.<sup>3</sup> It draws on case studies from 17 jurisdictions (14 countries and three Indian states) to understand progress of cost-recovery reforms, what factors have contributed to the success or failure in achieving cost recovery, and what impacts the level of cost recovery has on the sector.

# **2. Study Background and Methodology**

6. This paper is part of the World Bank’s “Rethinking Power Sector Reform” project, a multiyear global initiative of the Energy & Extractives Global Practice that provides an updated assessment of power sector reform experiences across the developing world. The initiative aims to revisit and refresh thinking on power sector reform approaches, in the light of accumulated evidence about the performance of countries undertaking different types of reforms. The goal is to reignite the policy debate around reform approaches by articulating a new vision that incorporates lessons learned over the past 25 years. It also reflects on how recent technological trends and business models that are disrupting the sector may call for a new thinking on reform strategies.

7. Supported by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the Public – Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), the initiative works with different partners and experts across the World Bank Group (WBG) and beyond to generate evidence, analysis and insights on five key themes of interest to power sector reform practitioners and decision makers globally: financial viability and cost recovery; utility governance and restructuring; power markets; regulation; and political economy.

8. This paper is based on a literature review (Huenteler et al., 2017) and an in-depth exploration of the 25-year power sector reform journey of 15 World Bank Group client countries that represent a wide diversity of geographies, income levels, and approaches to reform. The selected countries are Colombia, the Dominican Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, India, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Senegal, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, and Vietnam. The purpose of the case studies is to reflect upon the experiences of individual countries with a view to extracting lessons of broader interest to the global community. It is not the role of these papers to recommend any particular way forward for the countries in question.

9. Each case study was prepared by a team that included independent external experts and World Bank staff, using a combination of primary and secondary sources. Primary sources included interviews with government officials and other sector stakeholders. Secondary sources included, among others, the World Bank’s archival documents, government publications and utility reports. Each case study was

> 3 For a synthesis of the World Bank’s policy guidance on energy subsidy reform, see also the _Energy Subsidy Assessment Framework_ (https://www.esmap.org/node/3043).

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