Notice of Entering Into a Compact With the Republic of Ghana, 47684-47687 [2014-19196]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 157 / Thursday, August 14, 2014 / Notices
2. Employment of Persons with
Disabilities in the Federal
Government
3. Freedom from Prohibited Personnel
Practices: A Vision Achieved?
4. Preventing Nepotism in the Federal
Government
5. Reprisal for Protected Activity
6. Sexual Harassment in Federal
Workplaces—An Update
7. Due Process Rights of Federal
Employees
8. Effect of 2014 Legislation Concerning
Senior Executives in the
Department of Veterans Affairs
9. Whistleblowing After the
Whistleblower Protection
Enhancement Act
Recruitment and Hiring
10. Federal Hiring: Reformed or In Need
of Reform?
11. How Do Selecting Officials Make
Hiring Decisions?
12. Identifying the Best Qualified
Candidates for Federal Positions
13. Recruiting and Retaining Employees
in STEMM Occupations
14. Supervisory and Managerial
Probation: Final Hurdle or
Formality?
Pay and Performance Management
15. A ‘‘Performance Review’’ of the
Performance Review
16. Federal Pay Systems—Experience
Outside the General Schedule
17. Position Classification: Purposes and
Practices
18. The Incidence and Impact of Poor
Performance
Supervision and Leadership
19. Dual Career Paths for Supervisors
and Technical Specialists
20. Improving the Selection of
Supervisors
21. Performance Evaluation in the
Senior Executive Service: Leading
by Example?
22. Senior Executives: Learning from
Success
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Building an Effective Workforce
23. Flexible Work
24. Technology and the Federal
Workforce
25. The Federal Job as a ‘‘Calling’’
26. The Human Resources Workforce:
Rising to the Challenge?
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27. What Do Employees Seek and
Receive from Federal Service?
28. Workforce Reshaping: Do Agencies
have the Right Tools?
29. Workforce and Succession Planning:
Is the Exercise Producing Results?
Focus on the U.S. Office of Personnel
Management
30. Hiring Reform Initiatives and
Outcomes
31. The Civil Service Reform Act Turns
40
32. USAHire—An Initiative to Improve
Entry-Level Hiring
William D. Spencer,
Clerk of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2014–19351 Filed 8–12–14; 11:15 am]
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2. Program Overview and Budget
MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE
CORPORATION
[MCC FR 14–04]
Notice of Entering Into a Compact With
the Republic of Ghana
Millennium Challenge
Corporation.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
In accordance with Section
610(b)(2) of the Millennium Challenge
Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701–7718), the
Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC) is publishing a summary of the
Millennium Challenge Compact
between the United States of America,
acting through the Millennium
Challenge Corporation, and the
Republic of Ghana. Representatives of
the United States Government and
Ghana executed the Compact
documents on August 5, 2014. The
complete text of the Compact has been
posted at mcc.gov.
SUMMARY:
Dated: August 8, 2014.
John C. Mantini,
Assistant General Counsel, Millennium
Challenge Corporation.
Summary of Millennium Challenge
Compact With the Republic of Ghana
1. Overview
MCC’s Board of Directors has
approved a five-year, $498.2 million
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compact with the Republic of Ghana
aimed at reducing poverty and
accelerating economic growth (the
‘‘Compact’’). The Compact is intended
to assist the Government of Ghana
(‘‘GoG’’) to increase economic growth by
addressing problems in the power sector
through private sector investment in
power generation and distribution as
well as improvements that will reduce
load shedding, power losses, and
outages that currently affect millions of
Ghanaians (the ‘‘Program’’). The
Program will support the turnaround of
Ghana’s electricity sector and stimulate
private investment to create a selfsustaining sector meeting the current
and future needs of households and
business while ensuring inclusive
access to power by its citizens.
The Compact focuses on turning
around the main public electricity
distribution company through the
introduction of private sector
participation as well as targeted
infrastructure investments and reforms
in power generation. The targeted
investments and reforms will jointly
contribute to a more functional, credit
worthy, and self-sustaining power
sector.
Due to the desire to create sustainable
change and economic growth, MCC has
made the Compact contingent on private
sector participation (‘‘PSP’’) as well as
reforms intented to improve the
financial position of the distribution
utilities, enable gas supply for the
energy sector, and ensure a cost
reflective tariff regime. In addition, MCC
included a second tranche of
conditional program funding to be made
available only if essential reforms
milestones are met, including actual
implementation of the PSP transaction
and continued progress toward a cost
reflective tariff.
The Compact includes base funding of
$308.2 million and conditional funding
of up to $190 million which would be
released only after significant agreedupon reforms are adopted by the GoG.
The budget is shown in Figure 1 below.
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 157 / Thursday, August 14, 2014 / Notices
FIGURE 1: PROPOSED GHANA COMPACT BUDGET OVERVIEW
[Compact budget overview (millions of US$)]
MCC Tranche
I
(base funding)
MCC Tranche
II
(conditional
incentive
funding)
ECG Financial & Operational Turnaround Project ......................................................................
149.6
190
NEDCo Financial & Operational Turnaround Project ..................................................................
54.2
Regulatory Strengthening & Capacity Building Project ...............................................................
5.0
Access Project .............................................................................................................................
10.0
Power Generation Sector Improvement Project ..........................................................................
16.3
Energy Efficiency & Demand Side Mgmt. Project .......................................................................
25.4
Monitoring & Evaluation ...............................................................................................................
7.6
Program Administration and Oversight .......................................................................................
40.2
Total Investment ...................................................................................................................
1 308.2
Projects
As the required conditions are met,
the Tranche II funding that is part of the
overall Compact will be allocated to the
Electric Company of Ghana Financial
and Operational Turnaround Project. If
the conditions to the release of Tranche
II funding are not met within two years
of Entry into Force of the Compact, the
$190 million will be de-obligated from
the Compact.
The Government of Ghana will
contribute at least 7.5 percent of the
total amount of MCC funding towards
the implementation of the Compact.
The Program can be divided into two
general areas: Projects that focus on the
distribution sector, and projects that
focus on the generation sector.
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
3. Distribution Sector Investments
Utility Reforms: Electricity Company of
Ghana (‘‘ECG’’) and Northern Electricity
Distribution Company (‘‘NEDCo’’)
Financial and Operational Turnaround
Project
The ECG Financial and Operational
Turnaround Project, totaling $149.6
million, pursues a two-pronged
approach—changing the governance and
management of this Ghanaian electric
utility by bringing in a private sector
operator coupled with infrastructure
and foundational investments designed
largely to reduce losses and improve
service quality. Specifically, the Project
contains the following five
interconnected activities:
• Private Sector Participation.
Accepting the reform program as a
condition of the Compact will signal
Ghana’s willingness to take bold moves
1 Numbers
do not add due to rounding.
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to improve an underperforming sector
that drags down economic growth in the
country.
• Modernizing Utility Operations.
Investments to support integrated loss
management, such as technical
assistance, to provide overall project
management support.
• Reduction in Commercial Losses
and Improvement of Revenue
Collection. Reducing distribution
system vulnerability to theft and meter
manipulation and improving metering
systems, including installation of prepaid meters.
• Technical Loss Reduction.
Interventions focused on lowering
thermal losses in the distribution
systems.
• Outage Reduction. Reducing both
the frequency and duration of outages
by introducing improved system
protection and sectionalizing devices in
the distribution system.
The estimated economic rate of return
(‘‘ERR’’) for the ECG Financial and
Operational Turnaround Project is 19
percent. The initial estimated
beneficiaries of this Project are 4.8
million people in the short term and 7.8
million people long-term.
The NEDCo Financial and
Operational Turnaround Project will
initially provide $5 million in technical
assistance to improve operations of
NEDCo. No later than the conclusion of
the first year of Compact
implementation, MCC will evaluate
ERRs for possible system and
infrastructure investments and if
resulting ERRs are acceptable, MCC will
make investments up to $49.2 million.
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Potential total
MCC funding
498.2
190
Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity
Building Project
The activities under the Regulatory
Strengthening and Capacity Building
Project, which totals $5 million, are
two-fold—tariff review, focused on the
process of ratemaking and more
specifically on the structure of tariffs,
and capacity building of the sector
performance monitoring capabilities to
ensure better reporting:
• Sector Performance Monitoring
Capacity Building. Improving the
regulatory monitoring and independent
verification of sector performance.
• Tariff Review and Regulation.
Improving the tariff review process by
supporting studies that will provide
critical inputs to the redesign of the
tariff structure prior to implementation
of the PSP and the next round of
ratemaking and technical assistance to
the regulators.
The economic and beneficiary
analyses combine the Regulatory
Strengthening and Capacity Building
Project with the ECG Financial and
Operational Turnaround Project
calculations as the results of the two
Projects are closely linked.
Access Project
The Access Project, totaling $10
million, will test the most cost effective
approaches to address the key
constraints that micro, small and
medium enterprises (‘‘MSMEs’’) face in
obtaining safe and legal access to
electricity. This small Project is
designed to be innovative and
experimental—it will test several
different interventions aimed at
reducing critical barriers to legal
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tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
connections for MSMEs in a small
sample of markets and economic
enclaves and provide evidence of
effective approaches to increasing legal
access for the distribution utilities. In
addition to the direct benefits the
Project would have for the MSMEs,
increasing access will also expand the
customer base of the utilities to include
these important stakeholders and ensure
that they are beneficiaries of
improvements in the Ghanaian power
sector. The Access Project will also
address the problems caused by illegal
connections, improve safety and
security in target areas, and strengthen
relationships between end users, local
government, and the utility companies.
The Project includes two activities:
• Improving Electricity Supply to
MSMEs and Social Institutions.
Upgrades will be made to target selected
markets and economic enclaves that are
within the intervention sites of the ECG
and NEDCo Financial and Operational
Turnaround Projects, and to the extent
possible, nearby social institutions. The
activity will also provide metered
public lighting in the targeted areas.
• Improving Service Delivery and
Strengthening Partnerships. This
activity will seek to alleviate the various
barriers (including a high connection
fee, cumbersome connection processes
and weak coordination among key
actors including utility companies, local
government and the communities) that
prevent MSMEs from having legal
access to electricity.
These activities are expected to
contribute to increased incomes for
MSMEs; firm ERRs for this Project,
however, are not yet available. At this
time, data needed to undertake an
assessment of the proposed intervention
is still being collected. Robust economic
evaluations will identify promising
interventions that could be scaled up
during or after the compact and will
provide evidence of effective strategies
for increasing access to electricity in
markets and enclaves across Ghana.
4. Generation Sector Investments
The generation sector investments
adopt two strategies to make more
energy available. The first is to make
better use of the electricity already in
the system by reducing waste. The
second is to foster an enabling
environment for investments to expand
generation capacity.
Power Generation Sector Improvement
Project
This $16.3 million Project prioritizes
the alleviation of major constraints to
private sector investment in generation
through the following three activities:
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• Operationalize the ‘‘Gas to Power’’
Value Chain. The lack of reliable fuel
supply is a significant barrier to
securing affordable and sustainable
generation capacity and has led to
unplanned load shedding and outages
in the past few years. The Compact will
leverage ongoing advisory support
provided by USAID by providing both
the impetus to act (achievable, actionoriented conditions precedent linked to
first disbursement of project funds) and
continued support to the GoG to ensure
that decisions regarding
institutionalization, commercialization,
and securitization of the gas sector are
informed and serve Ghana’s best
interest.
• Facilitate Liquefied Natural Gas
(LNG) Development. Studies have
shown that even with gas from domestic
sources and the West African Gas
Pipeline, Ghana will need additional
fuel to support projected increases in
electricity demand. The private sector
has expressed an interest in building the
required infrastructure associated with
importing LNG and MCC is funding the
technical feasibility studies required to
provide a ‘shovel-ready’ project.
• Strengthen Sector Planning and IPP
Framework. Ghana does not have an
active and integrated master plan to
guide the development of its growing
energy sector, or an established
competitive process for procuring
Independent Power Providers (‘‘IPPs’’).
This has led to uneven, opaque, and
costly additions to capacity that may not
be consistent with a least cost plan. The
activity will support the development of
a least cost plan that addresses
generation, transmission, distribution
and demand side management in a
holistic and integrated fashion, as well
as capacity building within the entities
responsible for sector planning. It will
also allow the Government to conduct
more effective strategic planning for the
electricity grid and off grid systems and
provide generation capacity from both
traditional and renewable sources.
The estimated ERR for this Project is
24 percent. The initial beneficiaries of
the Project are 19.6 million people and
the long-term beneficiaries are 41.8
million people.2
Energy Efficiency and Demand Side
Management Project
Energy efficiency and demand-side
management policies and investments
represent some of the most cost-effective
means to bridge the gap between supply
and demand, serving as sources of new
energy supply. Reducing energy waste
2 This is a 20-year projection based on a
population growth rate of 2.3 percent.
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on the consumer side of the electricity
meter decreases the growth of demand
and reduces the investment that is
needed in the electricity system to
maintain needed capacity and
reliability. This $25.4 million Project
includes four activities:
• Development and Enforcement of
Standards and Labels. Most energyusing products do not have standards or
labelling requirements and the
standards that do exist would benefit
greatly from technical updates and
enforcement support.
• Improved Energy Auditing. Energy
efficiency auditing and energy services
company market support includes
technical capacity-building for energy
efficiency and energy management
professionals.
• Education and Public Information.
Awareness, education, and information
activities help assure that both technical
workers and the general public are
aware of cost-effective energy saving
opportunities.
• Demand Side Management
Infrastructure. This activity would
support piloting of distributed
applications such as solar photo voltaic
back-up power for lighting and
electronics, off-grid solar systems, and
grid-connected solar systems as well as
the conversion of conventional street
lights to LED street lighting.
The estimated ERR for this Project is 27
percent. The estimated beneficiaries for
this Project are 19.6 million people in
the short term and 41.8 million people
long-term.3
5. Policy Reform Milestones
The Compact is tied to a number of
reforms, specifically: Improving the
creditworthiness of ECG, ensuring
reliable gas supply for power
generation, instituting a cost reflective
tariff, and commercialization of the
distribution utilities. The GoG has given
MCC certain assurances through the
negotiations process of its support for
the policy, regulatory, and institutional
reform agenda reflected in the Compact
and associated conditions precedent,
and that indeed those reforms in the
Program are in line with actions the
GoG is already taking and believes are
necessary to ensuring a well-performing
energy sector. The proposed two tranche
approach to Compact funding was also
discussed with the GoG and accepted as
an important component of the program
design.
MCC required the GoG to meet a set
of five policy reform milestones prior to
presenting the Compact to the Board for
approval. In line with its commitment to
3 See
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footnote 2.
14AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 157 / Thursday, August 14, 2014 / Notices
the Compact, the GoG has met each of
these milestones, as described below.
• Approval of the Gas Sector Action
Plan. An acceptable short-term Gas
Sector Action Plan was submitted to
MCC by the Minister of Energy and
Petroleum. The GoG, with the support
of the World Bank, is currently drafting
a comprehensive long-term gas sector
master plan, which will be complete by
the end of 2014. Approval of the terms
of that gas sector master plan by MCC
and its adoption by the GoG are
conditions to entry into force of the
Compact.
• Finalize the Jubilee gas supply
agreement. The Ghana National Gas
Company (‘‘GNGC’’) and Jubilee
Partners have signed the agreement
related to infrastructure needed for gas
supply from the Jubilee gas fields. This
agreement facilitates the completion of
infrastructure by GNGC that
complements private sector
infrastructure and is a necessary
predicate to commercial agreements to
be signed in the future.
• Agree to PSP option for ECG and
NEDCo. The details of the agreement
were discussed during Compact
negotiations and are memorialized in
the compact document.
• Submit an action plan to
substantially reduce GoG arrears to ECG
and implement plan to move
Government Ministries, Departments
and Agencies to regular and current
payment of utility bills. The Minister of
Finance provided a letter to MCC on
June 30, 2014 detailing the total amount
of arrears owed to ECG by the GoG and
outlining a projected path to repayment.
• Continue quarterly tariff
adjustments. Ghana’s utility regulator,
the Public Utilities Regulatory
Commission, announced a quarterly
tariff adjustment on June 27, 2014. The
new tariff took effect on July 1, 2014.
These were not easy milestones to
meet, and they are instrumental to
achieving the deep and lasting change
MCC and the GoG want to achieve in
the energy sector through the Compact.
MCC is confident that the GoG’s strong
commitment to reform will continue as
the Program moves forward.
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
[FR Doc. 2014–19196 Filed 8–13–14; 8:45 am]
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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[Notice 14–080]
NASA Advisory Council; Human
Exploration Operations Committee;
Research Subcommittee; Meeting
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public
Law 92–462, as amended, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) announces a meeting of the
Research Subcommittee of the Human
Exploration and Operations Committee
(HEOC) of the NASA Advisory Council
(NAC). This Subcommittee reports to
the HEOC.
DATES: Friday, September 12, 2014,
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Local Time.
ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, Room
7H41A, 300 E Street SW., Washington,
DC 20546.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.
Bradley Carpenter, Human Exploration
and Operations Mission Directorate,
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC
20546 (202) 358–0826, or bcarpenter@
nasa.gov.
SUMMARY:
The
meeting will be open to the public up
to the capacity of the room. This
meeting is also available telephonically
and by WebEx. Any interested person
may call the USA toll free conference
call number 844–467–6272 or toll
number 720–259–6462, pass code
136444, to participate in this meeting by
telephone. The WebEx link is https://
nasa.webex.com/, the meeting number
is 990 340 786, and the password is
Friday0912#
The agenda for the meeting includes
the following topics:
—Omics and Open Science Status
—ISS National Laboratory Overview
—International Cooperation in Space
Research
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Attendees will be requested to sign a
register and to comply with NASA
security requirements, including the
presentation of a valid picture ID to
Security before access to NASA
Headquarters. Foreign nationals
attending this meeting will be required
to provide a copy of their passport and
visa in addition to providing the
following information no less than 10
working days prior to the meeting: Full
name; gender; date/place of birth;
citizenship; visa information (number,
type, expiration date); passport
information (number, country,
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47687
expiration date); employer/affiliation
information (name of institution,
address, country, telephone); title/
position of attendee; and home address
to Dr. Bradley Carpenter via email at
bcarpenter@nasa.gov or by fax at (202)
358–2886. U.S. citizens and Permanent
Residents (green card holders) are
requested to submit their name and
affiliation 3 working days prior to the
meeting to Dr. Carpenter. It is
imperative that the meeting be held on
these dates to accommodate the
scheduling priorities of the key
participants.
Patricia D. Rausch,
Advisory Committee Management Officer,
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014–19237 Filed 8–13–14; 8:45 am]
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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[Notice (14–079)]
NASA International Space Station
Advisory Committee; Meeting
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of Meeting.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public
Law 92–463, as amended, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
announces a meeting of the NASA
International Space Station (ISS)
Advisory Committee. The purpose of
the meeting is to review all aspects
related to the safety and operational
readiness of the ISS, and to assess the
possibilities for using the ISS for future
space exploration.
DATES: Tuesday, September 9, 2014,
1:00–2:00 p.m., Local Time.
ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters,
Conference Center CU24, 300 E Street
SW., Washington, DC 20546. Note:
CU24 is located in the Conference
Center on the Concourse-level of NASA
Headquarters.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Greg Mann, Office of International and
Interagency Relations, (202) 358–5140,
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC
20546–0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
meeting will be open to the public up
to the seating capacity of the room. This
meeting is also accessible via
teleconference. To participate
telephonically, please contact Mr. Greg
Mann (202–358–5140) before 4:30 p.m.,
local time, September 8, 2014. You will
need to provide your name, affiliation,
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47684-47687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19196]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
[MCC FR 14-04]
Notice of Entering Into a Compact With the Republic of Ghana
AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 610(b)(2) of the Millennium
Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701-7718), the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC) is publishing a summary of the Millennium Challenge
Compact between the United States of America, acting through the
Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Republic of Ghana.
Representatives of the United States Government and Ghana executed the
Compact documents on August 5, 2014. The complete text of the Compact
has been posted at mcc.gov.
Dated: August 8, 2014.
John C. Mantini,
Assistant General Counsel, Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Summary of Millennium Challenge Compact With the Republic of Ghana
1. Overview
MCC's Board of Directors has approved a five-year, $498.2 million
compact with the Republic of Ghana aimed at reducing poverty and
accelerating economic growth (the ``Compact''). The Compact is intended
to assist the Government of Ghana (``GoG'') to increase economic growth
by addressing problems in the power sector through private sector
investment in power generation and distribution as well as improvements
that will reduce load shedding, power losses, and outages that
currently affect millions of Ghanaians (the ``Program''). The Program
will support the turnaround of Ghana's electricity sector and stimulate
private investment to create a self-sustaining sector meeting the
current and future needs of households and business while ensuring
inclusive access to power by its citizens.
2. Program Overview and Budget
The Compact focuses on turning around the main public electricity
distribution company through the introduction of private sector
participation as well as targeted infrastructure investments and
reforms in power generation. The targeted investments and reforms will
jointly contribute to a more functional, credit worthy, and self-
sustaining power sector.
Due to the desire to create sustainable change and economic growth,
MCC has made the Compact contingent on private sector participation
(``PSP'') as well as reforms intented to improve the financial position
of the distribution utilities, enable gas supply for the energy sector,
and ensure a cost reflective tariff regime. In addition, MCC included a
second tranche of conditional program funding to be made available only
if essential reforms milestones are met, including actual
implementation of the PSP transaction and continued progress toward a
cost reflective tariff.
The Compact includes base funding of $308.2 million and conditional
funding of up to $190 million which would be released only after
significant agreed-upon reforms are adopted by the GoG. The budget is
shown in Figure 1 below.
[[Page 47685]]
Figure 1: Proposed Ghana Compact Budget Overview
[Compact budget overview (millions of US$)]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MCC Tranche II
MCC Tranche I (conditional Potential
Projects (base funding) incentive total MCC
funding) funding
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ECG Financial & Operational Turnaround Project.................. 149.6 190 ..............
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEDCo Financial & Operational Turnaround Project................ 54.2 .............. ..............
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regulatory Strengthening & Capacity Building Project............ 5.0 .............. ..............
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Access Project.................................................. 10.0 .............. ..............
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power Generation Sector Improvement Project..................... 16.3 .............. 498.2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Energy Efficiency & Demand Side Mgmt. Project................... 25.4 .............. ..............
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monitoring & Evaluation......................................... 7.6 .............. ..............
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program Administration and Oversight............................ 40.2 .............. ..............
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Investment............................................ \1\ 308.2 190 ..............
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the required conditions are met, the Tranche II funding that is
part of the overall Compact will be allocated to the Electric Company
of Ghana Financial and Operational Turnaround Project. If the
conditions to the release of Tranche II funding are not met within two
years of Entry into Force of the Compact, the $190 million will be de-
obligated from the Compact.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Numbers do not add due to rounding.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Government of Ghana will contribute at least 7.5 percent of the
total amount of MCC funding towards the implementation of the Compact.
The Program can be divided into two general areas: Projects that
focus on the distribution sector, and projects that focus on the
generation sector.
3. Distribution Sector Investments
Utility Reforms: Electricity Company of Ghana (``ECG'') and Northern
Electricity Distribution Company (``NEDCo'') Financial and Operational
Turnaround Project
The ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround Project, totaling
$149.6 million, pursues a two-pronged approach--changing the governance
and management of this Ghanaian electric utility by bringing in a
private sector operator coupled with infrastructure and foundational
investments designed largely to reduce losses and improve service
quality. Specifically, the Project contains the following five
interconnected activities:
Private Sector Participation. Accepting the reform program
as a condition of the Compact will signal Ghana's willingness to take
bold moves to improve an underperforming sector that drags down
economic growth in the country.
Modernizing Utility Operations. Investments to support
integrated loss management, such as technical assistance, to provide
overall project management support.
Reduction in Commercial Losses and Improvement of Revenue
Collection. Reducing distribution system vulnerability to theft and
meter manipulation and improving metering systems, including
installation of pre-paid meters.
Technical Loss Reduction. Interventions focused on
lowering thermal losses in the distribution systems.
Outage Reduction. Reducing both the frequency and duration
of outages by introducing improved system protection and sectionalizing
devices in the distribution system.
The estimated economic rate of return (``ERR'') for the ECG
Financial and Operational Turnaround Project is 19 percent. The initial
estimated beneficiaries of this Project are 4.8 million people in the
short term and 7.8 million people long-term.
The NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround Project will
initially provide $5 million in technical assistance to improve
operations of NEDCo. No later than the conclusion of the first year of
Compact implementation, MCC will evaluate ERRs for possible system and
infrastructure investments and if resulting ERRs are acceptable, MCC
will make investments up to $49.2 million.
Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building Project
The activities under the Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity
Building Project, which totals $5 million, are two-fold--tariff review,
focused on the process of ratemaking and more specifically on the
structure of tariffs, and capacity building of the sector performance
monitoring capabilities to ensure better reporting:
Sector Performance Monitoring Capacity Building. Improving
the regulatory monitoring and independent verification of sector
performance.
Tariff Review and Regulation. Improving the tariff review
process by supporting studies that will provide critical inputs to the
redesign of the tariff structure prior to implementation of the PSP and
the next round of ratemaking and technical assistance to the
regulators.
The economic and beneficiary analyses combine the Regulatory
Strengthening and Capacity Building Project with the ECG Financial and
Operational Turnaround Project calculations as the results of the two
Projects are closely linked.
Access Project
The Access Project, totaling $10 million, will test the most cost
effective approaches to address the key constraints that micro, small
and medium enterprises (``MSMEs'') face in obtaining safe and legal
access to electricity. This small Project is designed to be innovative
and experimental--it will test several different interventions aimed at
reducing critical barriers to legal
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connections for MSMEs in a small sample of markets and economic
enclaves and provide evidence of effective approaches to increasing
legal access for the distribution utilities. In addition to the direct
benefits the Project would have for the MSMEs, increasing access will
also expand the customer base of the utilities to include these
important stakeholders and ensure that they are beneficiaries of
improvements in the Ghanaian power sector. The Access Project will also
address the problems caused by illegal connections, improve safety and
security in target areas, and strengthen relationships between end
users, local government, and the utility companies. The Project
includes two activities:
Improving Electricity Supply to MSMEs and Social
Institutions. Upgrades will be made to target selected markets and
economic enclaves that are within the intervention sites of the ECG and
NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround Projects, and to the extent
possible, nearby social institutions. The activity will also provide
metered public lighting in the targeted areas.
Improving Service Delivery and Strengthening Partnerships.
This activity will seek to alleviate the various barriers (including a
high connection fee, cumbersome connection processes and weak
coordination among key actors including utility companies, local
government and the communities) that prevent MSMEs from having legal
access to electricity.
These activities are expected to contribute to increased incomes
for MSMEs; firm ERRs for this Project, however, are not yet available.
At this time, data needed to undertake an assessment of the proposed
intervention is still being collected. Robust economic evaluations will
identify promising interventions that could be scaled up during or
after the compact and will provide evidence of effective strategies for
increasing access to electricity in markets and enclaves across Ghana.
4. Generation Sector Investments
The generation sector investments adopt two strategies to make more
energy available. The first is to make better use of the electricity
already in the system by reducing waste. The second is to foster an
enabling environment for investments to expand generation capacity.
Power Generation Sector Improvement Project
This $16.3 million Project prioritizes the alleviation of major
constraints to private sector investment in generation through the
following three activities:
Operationalize the ``Gas to Power'' Value Chain. The lack
of reliable fuel supply is a significant barrier to securing affordable
and sustainable generation capacity and has led to unplanned load
shedding and outages in the past few years. The Compact will leverage
ongoing advisory support provided by USAID by providing both the
impetus to act (achievable, action-oriented conditions precedent linked
to first disbursement of project funds) and continued support to the
GoG to ensure that decisions regarding institutionalization,
commercialization, and securitization of the gas sector are informed
and serve Ghana's best interest.
Facilitate Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Development.
Studies have shown that even with gas from domestic sources and the
West African Gas Pipeline, Ghana will need additional fuel to support
projected increases in electricity demand. The private sector has
expressed an interest in building the required infrastructure
associated with importing LNG and MCC is funding the technical
feasibility studies required to provide a `shovel-ready' project.
Strengthen Sector Planning and IPP Framework. Ghana does
not have an active and integrated master plan to guide the development
of its growing energy sector, or an established competitive process for
procuring Independent Power Providers (``IPPs''). This has led to
uneven, opaque, and costly additions to capacity that may not be
consistent with a least cost plan. The activity will support the
development of a least cost plan that addresses generation,
transmission, distribution and demand side management in a holistic and
integrated fashion, as well as capacity building within the entities
responsible for sector planning. It will also allow the Government to
conduct more effective strategic planning for the electricity grid and
off grid systems and provide generation capacity from both traditional
and renewable sources.
The estimated ERR for this Project is 24 percent. The initial
beneficiaries of the Project are 19.6 million people and the long-term
beneficiaries are 41.8 million people.\2\
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\2\ This is a 20-year projection based on a population growth
rate of 2.3 percent.
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Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management Project
Energy efficiency and demand-side management policies and
investments represent some of the most cost-effective means to bridge
the gap between supply and demand, serving as sources of new energy
supply. Reducing energy waste on the consumer side of the electricity
meter decreases the growth of demand and reduces the investment that is
needed in the electricity system to maintain needed capacity and
reliability. This $25.4 million Project includes four activities:
Development and Enforcement of Standards and Labels. Most
energy-using products do not have standards or labelling requirements
and the standards that do exist would benefit greatly from technical
updates and enforcement support.
Improved Energy Auditing. Energy efficiency auditing and
energy services company market support includes technical capacity-
building for energy efficiency and energy management professionals.
Education and Public Information. Awareness, education,
and information activities help assure that both technical workers and
the general public are aware of cost-effective energy saving
opportunities.
Demand Side Management Infrastructure. This activity would
support piloting of distributed applications such as solar photo
voltaic back-up power for lighting and electronics, off-grid solar
systems, and grid-connected solar systems as well as the conversion of
conventional street lights to LED street lighting.
The estimated ERR for this Project is 27 percent. The estimated
beneficiaries for this Project are 19.6 million people in the short
term and 41.8 million people long-term.\3\
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\3\ See footnote 2.
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5. Policy Reform Milestones
The Compact is tied to a number of reforms, specifically: Improving
the creditworthiness of ECG, ensuring reliable gas supply for power
generation, instituting a cost reflective tariff, and commercialization
of the distribution utilities. The GoG has given MCC certain assurances
through the negotiations process of its support for the policy,
regulatory, and institutional reform agenda reflected in the Compact
and associated conditions precedent, and that indeed those reforms in
the Program are in line with actions the GoG is already taking and
believes are necessary to ensuring a well-performing energy sector. The
proposed two tranche approach to Compact funding was also discussed
with the GoG and accepted as an important component of the program
design.
MCC required the GoG to meet a set of five policy reform milestones
prior to presenting the Compact to the Board for approval. In line with
its commitment to
[[Page 47687]]
the Compact, the GoG has met each of these milestones, as described
below.
Approval of the Gas Sector Action Plan. An acceptable
short-term Gas Sector Action Plan was submitted to MCC by the Minister
of Energy and Petroleum. The GoG, with the support of the World Bank,
is currently drafting a comprehensive long-term gas sector master plan,
which will be complete by the end of 2014. Approval of the terms of
that gas sector master plan by MCC and its adoption by the GoG are
conditions to entry into force of the Compact.
Finalize the Jubilee gas supply agreement. The Ghana
National Gas Company (``GNGC'') and Jubilee Partners have signed the
agreement related to infrastructure needed for gas supply from the
Jubilee gas fields. This agreement facilitates the completion of
infrastructure by GNGC that complements private sector infrastructure
and is a necessary predicate to commercial agreements to be signed in
the future.
Agree to PSP option for ECG and NEDCo. The details of the
agreement were discussed during Compact negotiations and are
memorialized in the compact document.
Submit an action plan to substantially reduce GoG arrears
to ECG and implement plan to move Government Ministries, Departments
and Agencies to regular and current payment of utility bills. The
Minister of Finance provided a letter to MCC on June 30, 2014 detailing
the total amount of arrears owed to ECG by the GoG and outlining a
projected path to repayment.
Continue quarterly tariff adjustments. Ghana's utility
regulator, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, announced a
quarterly tariff adjustment on June 27, 2014. The new tariff took
effect on July 1, 2014.
These were not easy milestones to meet, and they are instrumental
to achieving the deep and lasting change MCC and the GoG want to
achieve in the energy sector through the Compact. MCC is confident that
the GoG's strong commitment to reform will continue as the Program
moves forward.
[FR Doc. 2014-19196 Filed 8-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9211-03-P
