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The reforms initiated in the global energy industry since the late 1980s have been seen as phenomenal and radical. In the main, the changes are perceived as the manifestation of the inexorable retreat of the state, apparently due to its failings, from the energy business. This thesis argues that the real position in the industry is not conterminous with that postulate. The unique character of the energy industry guarantees that the state's influence may change, but not swept away. Even when methods change, the objectives of state participation - efficiency, equity and stability - remain unalterable. This is demonstrated in three forms: First, domestic regulation of the industry, second, the exploitation of energy resource from a source shared by two or more countries, and third, international trade in energy. Indeed, the ubiquitous presence of the state in the energy industry has yielded varying results in different countries, and as in the case of Ghana, for different utilities. This thesis proposes that good governance is the critical variable that accounts for the difference. The need for stable governance, not characterised by the endurance of dictatorship, but exhibited in the form of competitive democracy, effective bureaucracy, rule of law, discretion and decentralisation, form the macro foundation for the efficient, equitable and stable operation of the energy business.