Energy Poverty and Access

Why hundreds of millions of people still lack reliable electricity or clean cooking fuel, and what it takes to change that.

Energy poverty describes a situation in which households cannot get, or cannot afford, the modern energy they need for a decent life, such as electricity for lighting and phones, or clean fuel for cooking. Closely linked is energy access, the goal of connecting every household to reliable, affordable, modern energy. Despite enormous progress, energy poverty remains one of the largest development challenges in the world.

The size of the gap

Estimates from international agencies suggest that roughly 700 million people worldwide still live without electricity, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. A far larger number, more than 2 billion people, still cook with firewood, charcoal, crop waste or kerosene rather than clean cooking fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas, electricity or biogas. Smoke from cooking on open fires and simple stoves is linked to serious lung and heart disease and is estimated to contribute to millions of early deaths each year, with women and children most exposed.

Why energy access matters economically

Electricity opens doors that are easy to take for granted. Lights let children study after dark and let shops stay open longer. Refrigeration keeps food and vaccines fresh. Electric pumps irrigate fields, and machines let small workshops produce more. Mobile phones, which need charging, connect people to banking, markets and information. Clean cooking saves hours that women and girls often spend gathering firewood, freeing time for school and paid work. In short, energy access raises productivity, health and opportunity together.

Why the gap persists

The hardest households to reach are often poor, scattered and far from existing power lines. Extending the grid to them, the last-mile connection, can be very expensive per household, while each home may use only a small amount of electricity, so a utility may earn too little to cover the cost. Many utilities in low-income countries are also financially weak, and poorly maintained grids can deliver unreliable power even where connections exist. For cooking, the up-front cost of a gas stove and cylinder, and the ongoing cost of refills, can be out of reach for poor families even when firewood is free but time-consuming to collect.

Paying for solar a little at a time

A household far from the grid might spend around 400 rupees a month on kerosene for lamps and on charging phones at a shop in town. A small solar home kit with a panel, a battery, lights and a phone charger might cost 12,000 rupees, too much to pay at once. With a pay-as-you-go plan, the family pays roughly 400 rupees a month for about three years, the same as it was spending on kerosene, and then owns the kit outright. After that, its lighting and charging are almost free, and the air inside the home is cleaner.

What is working

Countries have used several approaches. India expanded its grid rapidly and announced in 2018 that every village had been electrified, followed by a national push to connect remaining households. Its Ujjwala scheme, launched in 2016, gave tens of millions of poorer households cooking-gas connections, though keeping families using gas when refill prices rise has proved a continuing challenge. Where grids are far away, off-grid solar, from small home kits to village mini-grids, has become a fast and increasingly affordable option, helped by falling panel and battery prices and by mobile payment systems that let families pay in small amounts.

Counting a connection as the end of energy poverty

A wire to a home or a gas cylinder in the kitchen is an important step, but it is not the same as real access. If power arrives only a few hours a day, or refills are too costly to buy regularly, families may slip back to kerosene or firewood. Reliability and affordability matter as much as the connection itself.

Key takeaways

Energy poverty means lacking affordable access to modern electricity or clean cooking.
Roughly 700 million people lack electricity, and more than 2 billion lack clean cooking.
Energy access raises productivity, health and opportunity, especially for women and children.
Last-mile connections are costly, and reliability and affordability remain barriers.
Grid expansion, cooking-gas programmes and off-grid solar have all expanded access.