This blog was authored by Rodrigo Bórquez, economist of the Multi-Country Electricity Transition (MCET) network and the Climate Action Teams (CAT) initiative, and by Environmental Defense Fund economist Luis Fernández Intriago.
On October 14, the international network Multi-Country Electricity Transition (MCET) held two parallel seminars focused on the electricity transition in Asia and Latin America. These sessions—part of the Pre-COP30 series organized by the Economics team at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)—brought together researchers, institutions, and decision-makers from the MCET ecosystem to share progress, reflect on common challenges, and project a more integrated agenda for a just transition.
As the climate crisis demands the accelerated decarbonization of the power sector, particularly in emerging economies, it becomes essential to develop tools that support informed, equitable, and viable transitions. Open planning models, policy assessments, and institutional coordination are key elements to transform global goals into actionable national pathways.
Within this context, the MCET seminars invited us to look beyond modeling, and ask: how can technical tools genuinely connect with the social, territorial, and political realities of our countries?
Two regions, one shared conversation
In the Latin America session, Manuel Portilla (Vinken, Chile) presented a study exploring the potential of demand response to increase power system efficiency and reliability in Chile, Colombia, and Vietnam. Using the SWITCH model, his analysis showed how flexible demand can reduce costs, support renewable integration, and enable more active citizen participation in electricity markets.
From Honduras, Paola Sofía Acevedo Alvarado (Sustenta Honduras) presented a pioneering effort to incorporate territorial justice into long-term energy planning models. Through the development of SWITCH-Honduras, her work demonstrates how expansion scenarios can avoid harming protected areas or infringing on Indigenous rights, proposing a path that aligns climate action with territorial equity.
In the Asia session, Thuy Doan (Fulbright University Vietnam) analyzed the impact of various electricity pricing schemes on demand behavior, consumer welfare, and system efficiency in Vietnam. Her study suggests that structures like Time-of-Use (TOU) and hybrid models can be key to achieving carbon neutrality, but must be supported by investments in data systems and grid infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tarun Sharma (IIT Roorkee, India) explored five demand-responsive pricing strategies in India, aimed at shifting consumption to hours with higher solar generation. His approach connects energy modeling with realistic policy design, contributing to better system management and improved renewable integration.
Open models, just transitions
Though grounded in distinct national realities, all four studies share a common belief: energy modeling can be a powerful tool to inform decision-making, but only when it is linked to each country’s institutional, social, and territorial context.
Throughout the sessions, participants acknowledged that while tools like SWITCH allow for robust scenario simulations and decarbonization pathways, their real-world impact depends on how they align with local capacity, institutional frameworks, and justice-based approaches. This intersection presents challenges—but also transformative opportunities.
Connecting energy transitions to broader economic realities
While energy system models provide critical insights into technology pathways and system optimization, the MCET seminars underscored a fundamental truth: power sector transitions are inseparable from broader macroeconomic dynamics. Decarbonization decisions reshape employment patterns, redirect capital flows, alter government revenues, and redefine regional economic development. The demand response strategies explored across Chile, Colombia, Vietnam, and India raise questions about which industries and households can shift consumption and how costs distribute across income groups. Honduras’s territorial justice approach shows that protecting indigenous territories preserves not just rights and ecology, but economic systems and livelihoods outside conventional GDP accounting. The comparative Asian analysis reveals that transition costs vary dramatically by national context—essential insights for climate finance and burden-sharing frameworks.
Yet a critical dimension remains underexplored: the labor market. Coal miners, gas plant operators, and fossil fuel supply chain workers transitioning to new livelihoods. Skills gaps and wage differentials. Regional disruption in fossil fuel-dependent communities. These employment transitions are where “just transition” began conceptually, and they deserve systematic integration into energy system analysis. As the MCET network moves forward, bridging energy modeling with economy-wide perspectives—incorporating labor markets, fiscal dynamics, and development pathways—will strengthen the policy relevance of this work.
Available resources
What’s next
These events mark the beginning of a new phase of more integrated collaboration, combining technical rigor with territorial sensitivity. The MCET network will continue to build on this momentum, working toward energy transitions in the Global South that are more sustainable, inclusive, and grounded in local realities, transitions that account not only for electrons and infrastructure, but for workers, communities, and entire economies in transformation.