Demand Side Management & Renewable Energy in India: Capacity Building of Civil Society Organisations (DREC Project) Supported by Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), India Project Overview & Role of SRG 1 st SRG Meeting January 24, 2012, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Udai Mehta, Asst. Director

2 Outline  About CUTS International  DREC Project  Project Details  Project Features  Activity Schedule  Role of SRG  Views/Inputs of SRG Members

Genesis: Consumer rights organisation est. in Broad areas of work: Trade, Regulation and Governance Active programmes on competition, economic regulation and consumer policy and law issues in 30 countries of Africa, and Asia…. and growing. 3 CUTS Centers CUTS International

Project Details Objective: Capacity Building & Awareness Generation among CSOs for DSM (EE) & RE Outcomes:  Change in mindset of the consumers (Practice)  CSOs representation in regulatory process (Policy) Outputs:  Research report  Policy briefs/Briefing Papers  Newspaper Articles, etc 4

5 Project Features  States – Gujarat & West Bengal  Duration – Two years ( )  Components – Research, Capacity Building & Policy Advocacy  Approach – Bottom-up

6 Activities ( ) Local inception workshop Baseline consumer survey (1000 Respondents) State level paper & synthesis report State level training workshops (2) Meeting with policy makers Consumer interface meetings (10-15) State level policy advocacy meetings National policy advocacy meetings Final consumer survey National Conference

7 State Reference Group WHAT IS IT? A group of stakeholders with analytical aptitude on energy related issues to act as ambassadors in each project state for guiding project activities by providing inputs and reviewing outputs; connecting with policymakers, etc ACT AS BRAND AMBASSADORS OF THE PROJECT

8 Role of State Reference Group ACTIVITIESINPUTS FROM SRG MEMBERS Research Provide necessary inputs into research work Suggest access to relevant (and otherwise elusive) documents, etc. for research purposes Suggest useful news/documents to partners/CUTS for use in project Policy Advocacy Guide in organising interactions/interviews with key stakeholders Advise on specific policy advocacy measures Guide partners in drawing advocacy lessons Link project with other ongoing initiatives Outreach & Sustainability Help in outreach Support in disseminating project findings through own contacts/networks Contribute articles, write-ups etc and help in dissemination. Resource persons for training workshops SRG is project-specific but has a long-life, even beyond the project

Thank You!! 9 Udai S Mehta

VIEWS/INPUTS OF SRG MEMBERS……….. 10