The purpose of this seminar was to present and discuss the new Guidance Note on Poverty and Social Impact Analysis for the utilities sector, specifically water, electricity, gas and telecommunications. The presentation characterized the different types of reforms undertaken in these sectors, and the different macro-economic and micro-economic motivations that lie behind them. An accounting framework was developed for tracing the main impacts of reform (in terms of employment, prices, quality, access, fiscal flows, asset ownership and entry conditions) on the major stakeholder groups (namely workers, consumers, owners, competitors and the state). Potential measures for mitigating social impacts were considered. Finally, the data needed to evaluate the social impact of utility reforms was described, both in the context of rapid diagnostic methods and more sophisticated analytical techniques. Country cases were used to illustrate some of the major issues.