An investigation of governance in the countries of South East Europe (SEE), including analysis based on the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators, suggests a lower overall performance of governing institutions in SEE, compared with countries of the EU 25. The paper, therefore, considers whether the EU energy model is appropriate in South East Europe at this stage. The EU model confers certain institutional resources, but at the same time imposes significant costs of compliance with the energy chapter of the acquis. It remains to be seen which of these two opposing factors will dominate, but the analysis suggests that for some countries in the region, regulatory reform alone may not be sufficient.