Is Electricity Access a Human Right?

Is electricity access a human right? Wherever you fall on the topic, often affordability is a crucial consideration when first time connections are made for electricity service.

Customers hoping to utilize electricity for the first-time face drastically different circumstances in countries with the lowest percent of the population connected. While nuanced policy and macroeconomic forces – e.g. rural connection programs, social tariffs, subsidies – may have generated these results, a microeconomic struggle for affordability within household budgets remains in the least connected countries.

Countries with low rates of electricity access face a more difficult business case, as households seeking electricity connection may need to make greater compromises on budget essentials such as education, healthcare, and food if they are to afford service. As a result, some of the hardest areas to electrify are made harder with budgetary conflicts in households’ willingness to pay.