The establishment of Regional Energy Regulators Association (RERA) started with a series of two workshops on regional regulatory cooperation. The Energy Regulation Board (ERB) of Zambia and the then National Electricity Regulator (NER) of South Africa organised the first workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa in August 1998.
A follow-up workshop was held in Gaborone, Botswana in March 2000, which was attended by delegates from most Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States and representatives of the then SADC Energy Commission – Technical Unit. Representatives from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), Kenya and Uganda also attended as observers.
The two workshops had clearly identified the need for the formation of a regional association to provide a platform for effective co-operation for electricity regulators within the SADC Region.
Following the workshops and in terms of the SADC Protocol on Energy (1996), the SADC Energy Co-operation Policy and Strategy (1996), the SADC Energy Sector Action Plan (1997), the SADC Energy Activity Plan (2000) and in pursuit of the broader initiative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Energy Commission, the SADC Ministers responsible for Energy approved the establishment of RERA at their meeting held in Maseru, Lesotho on 12 July 2002.
The Association was officially launched on 26 September 2002 in Windhoek, Namibia that also happens to be the seat of the RERA Secretariat. RERA was, initially, incorporated as an Association (Not for Gain) under the Companies Act, 1973 of the Laws of Namibia (Act 61 of 1973) in October 2003 and later on granted diplomatic accreditation by the Government of the Republic of Namibia in March 2010.