The Obsolescing Bargain Redux? Foreign Investment in the Electric Power Sector in Developing Countries

Abstract

* Law Clerk (2005-06) to the Hon. M. Margaret McKeown, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; Postdoctoral Fellow (2004-05), Program on Energy & Sustainable Development, Stanford University; J.D., Stanford Law School, 2004; B.A., Emory University, 2000. This paper reports the results of a study sponsored by the Program on Energy & Sustainable Development (PESD) at Stanford University, and would not have been possible without the leadership and support of Dr. David Victor and Professor Thomas Heller, as well as the dedicated work of PESD researchers: Peter M. Lamb, Pei Yee Woo, Katia Olexiyivna Karpova, Jeff Rector, Joshua C. House, Efe Cakarel, and Alejandra Nunez-Luna. PESD also collaborated with Dr. Anton Eberhard and Katharine Gratwick at the University of Cape Town, who contributed invaluable insight with a study on the IPP experience in Africa, and with Dr. Adilson de Oliveira, Luciano Losekann, and Felipe V.S. Araujo at the Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro on research on the Brazilian IPP experience. Earlier drafts of the paper benefited from presentation and discussion at the General Counsel’s Roundtable, Jan. 21-22, 2005, and Feb. 10-11, 2006, at Stanford University, and at “The Experience of Independent Power Projects in Developing Countries” seminar hosted by PESD at Stanford University, June 2-3, 2005. For invaluable discussions, support in arranging field research, and helpful comments on drafts, special thanks to Anthony Becker, Mario Veiga Pereira, Jessica Farmer, Bart Lucarelli, Myrna Velasco, David Michaels, Sundar Sundaresan, Jeff Meller, John Schuster, Mark Kantor, and Gerald West. And for excellent editing and critique, thanks to the staff of the N.Y.U. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW & POLITICS. Errors are my own. 1. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, WORLD ENERGY INVESTMENT OUT-