Mr. Daniel Kiptoo is a consummate energy professional, he is a lawyer by training but an energy specialist by trade. He has vast experience in the electricity and petroleum sub sectors with a specific focus in policy formulation, legislative drafting, regulation, negotiation, and structured financing.
He is currently the Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) in Kenya, the Authority is the body mandated with the technical and economic regulation of the electricity and petroleum sectors in the Republic of Kenya. In his current role, which commenced on the 14th of December 2020, he regulates the entire value chain in electricity, from generation, transmission, distribution and retail as well as upstream, midstream and downstream in petroleum.
Previously, he served as the legal advisor in the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. At the Ministry, he was the Chairman of the Government’s First Oil Committee charged with delivery of first oil for Kenya. He also represented Kenya in several Investor-State Arbitrations and was a member of two task forces on Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Prior to his role as legal advisor, he worked in the private sector with an Africa centric oil & gas risk consultancy as the oil & gas legal affairs director and with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in the Legal department. He is one of the drafters of the Kenyan Energy Act (2019) and Petroleum Act (2019).
He holds Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Energy & Sustainability from the University of Cumbria and a Master of Laws (LLM) in Petroleum Law and Policy from University of Dundee, both in the United Kingdom, a bachelor’s degree in law (LLB) from the University of Nairobi and a Post Graduate Diploma (Dip.) from the Kenya School of Law. Mr. Kiptoo is a Harvard Senior Executive Fellow (SEF) and he holds two executive certificates, one in public policy and another in economic development, both from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is currently pursuing a PhD from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP) at the University of Dundee.
With respect to professional associations, in addition to being a member of the law society of Kenya in good standing having been called to the bar to as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, he is a corporate governance practitioner being a qualified Certified Secretary (CS) and is also a member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN), a global body of international energy negotiators.
Mr. Kiptoo has been awarded the Order of the Grand Warrior by the President of the Republic of Kenya. The Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) is an award presented to individuals in recognition of an outstanding service rendered to the Country.