Designing the Energy and Electricity Laws for the Next 50 Years

No country can build a future energy system using past ways of thinking. Energy history has always moved faster than regulation. The 1970s oil crisis gave birth to a new paradigm of energy security. The 1990s brought market liberalisation and electricity system efficiency. The last two decades have been marked by the acceleration of renewable energy, the digitalisation of power grids, and decarbonisation commitments. Now, the world is entering a new chapter as artificial intelligence, energy storage systems, electric vehicles, hydrogen, and modular nuclear reactors begin to shape the face of the global energy system. Various recent developments in the energy and mineral industries convey one very clear message: energy regulation is no longer sufficient if it is only designed to answer today’s challenges. Regulation must anticipate challenges that have not even fully emerged. Therefore, the discussion of the Energy Law and the Electricity Law is a crucial momentum to ensure that Indonesia’s legal foundation remains relevant for the next fifty years. Until now, the regulatory approach has often been reactive. When a technology develops rapidly, regulations are only then adjusted. When a new business model emerges, the government then makes revisions. As a result, the law always lags one step behind innovation. In the fast-changing world of energy, this pattern is increasingly difficult to maintain. Energy is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Households are no longer just electricity consumers but are beginning to act as producers through rooftop solar power. Electric vehicles are slowly evolving from mere transportation tools into part of the energy storage system through the vehicle-to-grid concept. Battery systems are no longer just a complement but are becoming the main buffer for grid stability. Even artificial intelligence has been used to optimise power plant operations, predict electricity loads, and detect system disturbances in real time. This transformation is still in its early stages. In the coming decade, energy storage technology is expected to develop much faster. Smart grids will enable millions of devices to communicate automatically to maintain system balance. Hydrogen is beginning to play a role in heavy industry and transportation. Digitalisation will change the way electricity is produced, traded, stored, and consumed by society. In the next two to three decades, these changes are expected to become even more complex. Long Duration Energy Storage will allow energy to be stored for days or even weeks. Virtual Power Plants will connect millions of small generators into a single virtual plant capable of operating like a large-scale power station. Offshore Energy Hubs will integrate offshore wind power, hydrogen, ammonia, oil and gas, and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage technology into one interconnected industrial ecosystem. Even before Indonesia reaches its centennial in 2045 and enters the mid-century, the world may already be familiar with more economical modular nuclear reactors, high-capacity solid-state batteries, low-carbon synthetic fuels, and even nuclear fusion technology that is currently still in the development stage. No one can be certain which technology will prevail. It is precisely because of this uncertainty that regulation must be designed to adapt to various possibilities. This is where the concept of future-proof regulation becomes highly relevant. Its essence is not to create laws that regulate every technology in detail, but to build a legal framework that is flexible enough to accommodate innovation without losing legal certainty. Good regulation does not pick a specific technology as the winner, but rather provides space for the best technology to develop according to national needs. This approach is already being adopted by many countries. Singapore is developing regulatory sandboxes so that energy innovations can be tested before being permanently regulated. The United Kingdom is updating its electricity system governance to be more prepared for digitalisation and the increasing penetration of renewable energy. The European Union is accelerating regulatory harmonisation to support green industry, while the United States is increasingly promoting technology-neutral policies, providing incentives based on performance and emission reductions rather than on specific technology choices. The lesson from these countries is simple. Modern regulation is no longer tasked with determining which technology will win. Its task is to create certainty, encourage innovation, and protect national interests in the face of relentless change. Indonesia has a very timely momentum to adopt this way of thinking. The agenda of energy self-sufficiency, industrial downstreaming, strengthening energy security, and accelerating the development of new and renewable energy requires a legal foundation capable of withstanding technological dynamics for decades to come. Regulation must provide certainty for investors, while at the same time being adaptive enough not to become a barrier to the birth of new innovation. The drafting of the Energy Law and the Electricity Law must therefore be built upon five main principles to maintain the regulation’s long-term relevance. First, regulation must be technology neutral. The law should not lock the direction of development into one particular type of technology. Global experience shows that innovation often develops faster than predicted.