Ensuing high quality and financially affordable energy supply is one of the most important problems for Ukrainian cities, the USAID experts say. At the same time, according to their observations, almost all Ukrainian cities have adopted no strategic documents on the energy industry governance, and most of them still have no specialized units, trained personnel or plans for managing the energy processes within their territories. That was the reason for starting the MHR project in the first place, back in 2009. In its first year, 21 Ukrainian cities developed and approved municipal energy plans. The MHR experts report it resulted in saving 57 million cubic meters of natural gas and creating the independent regulator for the heating industry and five regional centers for training in energy planning. Energy efficiency projects managed to attract 51 million US dollars in investments. As a result, 21 demonstration projects of improving energy efficiency and heating supply were implemented within the MHR framework.
Below, we offer you our American contributor’s report on communal services organization in the US, as well as experts’ commentaries on Ukraine’s ability (or absence thereof) to learn from American experience.
