Meeting the energy needs of emerging economies requires additional metrics more closely aligned with job creation and economic growth.
Basic household electricity access is the dominant metric for tracking progress against global energy poverty — but actually means very little in terms of what drives opportunity and economic prosperity.
Household access to basic electricity is an important first step. Everyone deserves to have lights at home. But access is not the same as the energy needed for job creation and economic growth. We need new indicators (and better data) that raise ambitions, prioritize investments, and track progress toward abundance for everyone.
We aim to broaden progress indicators from initial household access to also cover cost, reliability, and energy outside the home for industry, commerce, and other productive uses. We propose targets that align with countries’ own development ambitions. The Hub has developed two new metrics to do this: The Modern Energy Minimum as a new 1000 kWh per person target and the Reliability-Adjusted Cost of Electricity (RACE) that reflects what firms care about most. Our Open Energy Tracking [coming soon] leverages machine learning and geospatial data to estimate electricity consumption at five tiers, not just one, providing insights into what happens after initial connections.
To defeat energy poverty, we need energy metrics aligned with economic growth.
Energy is fundamental to modern living and any competitive prosperous economy. SDG7 calls for modern energy for all,…
Adequately tracking progress against energy poverty requires a metric that is more closely tied to income and employment…
Entire countries use less electricity than some (pretty small) cities in the United States. Berea, Kentucky is a…
The world’s energy access definition is currently just 50-100 kWh per person per year, barely enough to power…
Executive Summary Shocks from the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are disproportionately affecting emerging and frontier…
