An enhanced version of the climate change framework and urban planning legislation/guidance is now available at: https://leap.unep.org/en/knowledge/toolkits/climate. The section on agriculture and forestry is also in the process of being updated.
CHAPTER ONE
Article One
Article 3
CHAPTER II ELECTRICITY SECTOR SUBJECT TO
Article 6
Article 35
CHAPTER VI CONNECTION TO THE GRIDS, ELECTRICITY IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
Article 54 LAW N.21,2011 OF 23,06,2011 GOVERNING ELECTRICITY IN RWANDA WE, KAGAME Paul, President of the Republic, THE PARLIAMENT HAS ADOPTED AND WE SANCTION, PROMULGATE THE FOLLOWING LAW AND ORDER IT BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA THE PARLIAMENT, The Chamber of Deputies, in its session of 02 November 2010, Pursuant to the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda of 04 June 2003 as amended to date, especially in Articles 62, 66, 67, 90, 92, 93, 108, 183 and 201, Pursuant to Organic Law n. 04,2005 of 08,04,2005 determining the modalities of protection, conservation and promotion of the environment in Rwanda, Pursuant to Organic Law n. 8,2005 of 14,07,2005 determining the use and management of land in Rwanda, Pursuant to Law n.39,2001 of 13,09,2001 establishing an agency for the regulation of certain public utilities, Pursuant to Law n. 26,2005 of 17,12,2005 relating to Investment and Export Promotion and Facilitation, Pursuant to Law n.12,2007 of 27,03,2007 on Public Procurement, Pursuant to Law n. 18,2007 of 19,04,200 relating to Expropriation in the Public Interest, Pursuant to Law n. 62,2008 of 10,09,2008 regulating the use, conservation, protection and management of water resources, Pursuant to the Law n. 07,2009 of 27,04,2009 relating to companies as modified and complemented to date.
CHAPTER ONE
Article 1 This Law shall govern activities of electric power production, transmission, distribution and trading within or outside the national territory of the Republic of Rwanda.
Article 2 For the purpose of this Law, the following terms shall have the following meanings,
1. electricity , electric power generated from water, oil, gas, peat, solar energy, wind energy, nuclear energy and any other,
2. distribution of electric power , the use of a distribution network meant for delivery of electrical power from supply points of the distribution network to end use customers and comprising electric lines, stations, transformers and other electric components whose function is the retail distribution of electrical power,
3. production of electric power, the generation of electricity in any power plant connected to transmission or distribution networks and any auxiliary activities of transport up to the supply point of transmission or distribution networks, as well as self supply production,
4. off grid, an act of distribution of electric power out of the public grid,
5. regulatory agency, a public organization in charge of regulating public utilities,
6. big quantities, the level of the quantity of electric power that is greater than the threshold determined by an Order of the Minister in charge of electric power,
7. renewable energies , inexhaustible natural power source including solar, wind, water, geothermal, biomass, etc ,
8. purchase for resale, the purchase of big quantities of electric power for resale to enduse customers,
9. sale of electric power, the sale to third parties or to end use customers,
10. transmission of electric power , the exploitation of a transmission network meant for the transport of electric power from production sources to the supply point of the distribution network and comprising electric power lines, stations, transformers as well as other electric components,
12. large scale customer, a client who annually consumes electricity quantity which is equal to or higher than the minimum quantity set by the relevant authority,
13. small scale customer, a client that annually consumes electricity quantity which is lesser than the one set by the relevant authority,
14. license, the right given to an operator of electrical works by the regulatory agency in accordance with the law,
15. supplier, an individual or an institution engaged in supply of electric power,
16. autoproducer, an individual or an institution producing electric power for his, her own consumption.
Article 3 This Law shall have the following objectives,
1. liberalization and regulation of electricity sector,
2. harmonious development of distribution of electric power for all categories of the population and for all economic and social development sectors,
3. setting up conditions enabling electric power investments,
4. respect for the conditions of fair and loyal competition and for rights of users and operators.
Article 4 The production of electric power and any auxiliary activity of transport up to the supply point of transmission or distribution grids shall only be authorized to companies holding a license thereof.
Article 5 The transmission, distribution and sale of electric power shall only be authorized to the one holding a license thereof.
Article 6 Purchasing for reselling electric power shall only be authorized to institutions or individual holding a license thereof.
Article 9 Licenses issued under this law are of intuit personae nature. They may only be subject to succession or transfer to a third party upon prior approval of the regulatory agency. License transfer shall be subject to prior approval by the regulatory agency. The concerned parties shall make a written request thereof. The regulatory agency shall give a response within two (2) months as of receipt of the request. A negative response must be motivated.
Article 10 Any modification is subject to prior approval of the regulatory agency. The approval or refusal for license modification shall be notified in writing within a period of two (2) months from the date the regulatory agency received the request. The refusal must be motivated. In case of modification, the license holder must continue to comply with the obligations relating to the license. Failure to comply with these procedures shall be punishable in accordance with the provisions of this Law.
Article 12 The annual fees that are paid by the license holder shall be in the two (2) following categories, 1. fees meant for Universal Access Fund, 2. fees meant for the regulatory agency to perform its mission.
Article 13 Any individual or company holding a trade license and who wants to deal with production, transport and distribution of electricity may apply for the license thereof. The regulation for granting licenses shall be issued by the regulatory agency. However, the project meant for electricity auto production for less than fifty kilowatts (50 kw) shall not be subject to license.
Article 14 The main reasons for refusal to grant license are the following,
1. non fulfillment of one of the conditions set forth in the licensing,
2. the applicant is in bankruptcy, liquidation due to bankruptcy or legal requirement,
3. the fact that the proposed activities in terms of construction, transmission or distribution of electricity are in an area which is subject to another entity’s concession or license, and the cost is beyond the requestor’s capacity, 4. any element likely to be a threat to the national security, 5. any other reason which is a hindrance to the electricity market.
Article 15 Where the applicant is not satisfied with the decision of the regulatory agency refusing to grant the license and, after failure of an out of court settlement, he, she may appeal before the competent court.
Article 21 licenses Where the regulatory agency establishes specifications in the license which nessitate modification, it shall do so in writing and inform the Minister in charge of electricity and all the concerned parties. Where the license holder needs to have it modified, he, she shall submit a written request to the regulatory agency which shall, in turn, inform the Minister in charge of electricity.
Article 24 Modification and transfers of licenses, including the direct or indirect sale, assignment, conveyance, lease or other transfer of assets or activities subject to a license to a different individual or institution, shall be strictly prohibited if there is no regulatory agency’s prior approval. Such approval shall be granted after consideration of the matter and if the proposed transferee meets all the conditions for granting the relevant license. Failure to comply with such requirements shall amount to license suspension or revocation.
Article 26 With regard to rural electrification license, the regulatory agency shall establish a simplified license in order to expedite licensing for rural electrification projects. Such license shall be granted to those operating in rural areas.
Article 28 The electricity transmission and distribution activities shall be non discriminatory. They are based on the tariffs approved and published by the regulatory agency. However, transmission or distribution through the grid may be denied where such grid is of a low capacity or where granting it would cause prejudice to the existing grid users. Any electricity transmission and distribution license holder refusing connection to the grid shall provide adequate and substantial reasons for such refusal. Any person who has been denied connection to the grid may file a complaint with the regulatory agency.
Article 31 The tariff conditions shall remain in force during a period determined in accordance with the agreed provisions of the license.
Article 32 Tariffs must ensure that the investor has a normal return on his, her investments. The capital investment shall be determined on the basis of infrastructure and equipment value used for the project implementation.
Article 33 Tariffs and tariff setting methodology must take it into account the following,
1. be transparent, accommodate the need for system integrity and reflect justified incurred costs, by minimizing risks in the sector of electricity transmission business and by ensuring competition while avoiding subsidies to the grid users,
2. make sure each category of clients pays back the costs incurred on investments made without precluding the possibility to require some categories of clients to pay certain fees so as to promote an efficient use of electricity.
3. help in recovering incurred costs, including capital financing costs invested in projected activities that allow a reasonable level of proceeds compared to the projected activities thereby improving on capacity building in terms of production and distribution activities as well as the capacity of delivering auxiliary services. All this being aimed at attracting private investments and use of technology,
4. include appropriate incentives to improve the quality of service to customers,
5. provide for a system of tariff decrease or increase following exceptional conditions.
Article 35 The regulatory agency shall have power to approve balancing charges for transmission and system operation based on specified principles. CHAPTER VI, DEROGATIONS TO THE LAW, CONNECTION TO THE GRIDS, ELECTRICITY IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
Article 36 Subject to the provisions of this Law, activities of production, transmission and distribution of electricity through transmission and distribution power plants and grids established by a company or a household for own consumption or for consumption by other companies thereto, shall be authorized on the national territory. Where such power plants are established within private properties, there must be no violation of public and State private domain. Activities referred to in the paragraph one of this
Article 37 be subject to prior notice to the regulatory agency and in compliance with regulations regarding safety of electricity operations.
Article 38 The regulatory agency may withdraw from a company, an individual or an institution the right granted in case of non compliance with the Law.
Article 40 An operator performing transmission or distribution of electricity cannot deny connection to the grid to electricity producers, when their application is properly made and complies with Laws. He, she shall not apply to them discriminatory tariffs. Only objective discrepancies among producers may justify tariff discrepancies.
Article 42 sale and purchase International electricity trade license holder shall conclude contracts for purchase and sale of electric power directly from producers and arrange for transmission, transit, or wheeling of the electricity under the conditions determined by this Law. He, she shall conclude contracts for supply and sale of electricity to large scale customers in accordance with this Law.
Article 44 A small scale customer shall be supplied with electricity by a supplier authorized by the regulatory agency upon agreement to supply electricity to small scale customers in the region in which he, she is operating. Article 44, General requirements for electricity supply to customers The general requirements for electricity supply must ensure transparent, simple, inexpensive and rapid procedures for addressing customers’ complaints, and, where warranted, a system of reimbursement and,or compensation to the consumers. The regulatory agency shall approve general requirements for the supply of electricity to customers, ensuring that those customers have right to conclude contracts with their electricity service providers under conditions that are nondiscriminatory, transparent, fair and disclosed in advance. The regulatory agency may set regulations as to controlling conditions for electricity purchase and sale.
Article 45 The regulatory agency must resolve disputes arising between electricity consumer and supplier. It may also be a mediator and arbitrator and may benefit from the advice by an expert where necessary. The regulatory agency decision may be referred to the relevant court.
Article 46 There is hereby established the fund referred to as Universal Access Fund. The main purpose of the Universal Access Fund is to optimize access to electricity in all areas of the country through cost effective means and minimized support. A Presidential Order shall determine the functioning of the Universal Access Fund. The Universal Access Fund shall operate upon contributions collected from dealers in electricity. Such contributions shall be determined by a Presidential Order. Dealers in electricity must, within time limits specified by the regulatory agency, indicate their expected income. The regulatory agency may suspend or revoke the license issued to a dealer in electricity, when he, she refuses to pay contributions to the Universal Access Fund in accordance with specified modalities and time limits. Failure or refusal to pay contributions to the Unversal Access Fund within specified time limits shall be considered as a debt towards the regulatory agency to be recovered by court decision.
Article 48 The right of way is necessary to the operators in production, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity. It shall be exercised in accordance with the standards set by the regulatory agency. Expropriation shall be conducted in accordance with the Law governing expropriation for public interest.
Article 51 Any manager who, upon his, her decision, violates the provisions of the license commits an offence and shall be liable to a fine of five million (5.000.000 Rwf) to ten million (10.000.000 Rwf) Rwandan francs.
Article 54 This Law shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Rwanda. Kigali, on 23,06,2011
