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Electrification for “Under Grid” households in Rural Kenya

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  • Lee, Kenneth
  • Brewer, Eric
  • Christiano, Carson
  • Meyo, Francis
  • Miguel, Edward
  • Podolsky, Matthew
  • Rosa, Javier
  • Wolfram, Catherine

Abstract

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 600 million people live without electricity. Despite ambitions of governments and donors to invest in rural electrification, decisions about how to extend electricity access are being made in the absence of rigorous evidence. In this paper, we present high-resolution spatial data on electrification rates in rural Kenya in order to quantify and visualize energy poverty in a novel way. Using our dataset of 20,000 geo-tagged structures in Western Kenya, we provide descriptive evidence that electrification rates remain very low despite significant investments in nearby grid infrastructure. This pattern holds across time and for both poor and relatively well-off households and businesses. We argue that if governments wish to leverage existing infrastructure and economies of scale, subsidies and new approaches to financing connections are necessary.

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  • Lee, Kenneth & Brewer, Eric & Christiano, Carson & Meyo, Francis & Miguel, Edward & Podolsky, Matthew & Rosa, Javier & Wolfram, Catherine, 2016. "Electrification for “Under Grid” households in Rural Kenya," Development Engineering, Elsevier, vol. 1(C), pages 26-35.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveng:v:1:y:2016:i:c:p:26-35
    DOI: 10.1016/j.deveng.2015.12.001
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    Cited by:

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    2. Collen Zalengera & Long Seng To & Richard Sieff & Alison Mohr & Aran Eales & Jon Cloke & Hannah Buckland & Ed Brown & Richard Blanchard & Simon Batchelor, 2020. "Decentralization: the key to accelerating access to distributed energy services in sub-Saharan Africa?," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 10(3), pages 270-289, September.
    3. Magda Moner‐Girona & Daniel Puig & Yacob Mulugetta & Ioannis Kougias & Jafaru AbdulRahman & Sándor Szabó, 2018. "Next generation interactive tool as a backbone for universal access to electricity," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(6), November.
    4. Anand, Hithu & Ramasubbu, Rengaraj, 2018. "A real time pricing strategy for remote micro-grid with economic emission dispatch and stochastic renewable energy sources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 779-789.
    5. Rains, Emily & Abraham, Ronald J., 2018. "Rethinking barriers to electrification: Does government collection failure stunt public service provision?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 288-300.
    6. Choumert-Nkolo, Johanna & Combes Motel, Pascale & Le Roux, Leonard, 2019. "Stacking up the ladder: A panel data analysis of Tanzanian household energy choices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 222-235.
    7. Opalo, Ken Ochieng' & Habyarimana, James & Schipper, Youdi, 2021. "The Contingent Electoral Impacts of Programmatic Policies: Evidence From Education Reforms in Tanzania," OSF Preprints utpqn, Center for Open Science.
    8. Miguel, Edward & Wolfram, Catherine & Lee, Kenneth, 2016. "Experimental Evidence on the Demand for and Costs of Rural Electrification," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt1s55t761, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    9. Catherine Wolfram & Edward Miguel & Eric Hsu & Susanna B. Berkouwer, 2023. "Donor Contracting Conditions and Public Procurement: Causal Evidence from Kenyan Electrification," NBER Working Papers 30948, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Almeshqab, Fatema & Ustun, Taha Selim, 2019. "Lessons learned from rural electrification initiatives in developing countries: Insights for technical, social, financial and public policy aspects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 35-53.
    11. Herbert, Caren & Phimister, Euan, 2019. "Private sector-owned mini-grids and rural electrification: A case study of wind-power in Kenya's tea industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1288-1297.
    12. Clarke, Rowan P. & Visser, Martine, 2019. "The Short-Run Subsidies, Take-Up, and Long-Run Demand for Off-Grid Solar for the Poor: Evidence from Large-Scale Randomized Trials in Rwanda," EfD Discussion Paper 19-26, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.

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