Achieving retail liberalization in middle-income countries: challenges and successes of the Brazilian experience

Abstract

Electricity market liberalization initiatives have swept the world since they were first proposed and thoroughly studied in the 1980s, finding significant buy-in from middle-income countries. Many of these countries embarked in the wave of electricity liberalization in the 1990s following the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) market reform and have, as of today, successfully implemented wholesale competition. Generally speaking, most middle-income countries have interrupted the process before reaching full retail liberalization, and thus, consumer choice is still mostly restricted to industries. The technological and social advances of decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization have brought back the full retail liberalization agenda so that consumers can be empowered to freely select their own supplier, type of energy, and hence be active players in the power market. In this article, the Brazilian conjuncture, constraints, and successes along the way towards retail market liberalization are used as a backdrop for a broader discussion that can apply to a range of middle-income countries facing similar challenges