Global South
Improving Rural Electricity Service
Download the Report: Improving Rural Electricity Service: Adding Value Under the Grid Traditionally in sub-Saharan Africa, electrification efforts have emphasized the hundreds of millions of people who live off-grid, with no electricity at all. The “formula” for electrification usually includes expanding supply, extending the grid, making…
Closing the Circuit: Fostering end-use demand for rural electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa
Download the Report: Closing the Circuit: Stimulating End-Use Demand for Rural Electrification Imagine a world in which Internet service providers connect more and more households to high-speed Internet, giving them the ability to watch all the shows available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other content providers. Yet those households…
Collaborating for Puerto Rico’s Energy Transformation
More than a year after Hurricane Maria passed by, Puerto Rico’s energy system does not fully meet the needs of the 3.4 million American citizens who live on the island. It is also not sufficient to sustain local commerce, which is worth $105 billion of GDP annually, and which includes…
Schools Stronger than Storms
One year ago, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, causing the largest power outage in US history. Puerto Ricans, on average, suffered without electricity for three months, many for almost a year, as recovery officials struggled to repair what was already a poorly maintained and inefficient electrical grid. This prolonged power…
Part Two—Critical Facilities: Where Government and Utility Services Redefine Resilience
In the first part of this two-part series (available here), we explored how the 2017 hurricane season left thousands of homes, businesses, and critical services across the Caribbean in the dark for extended periods of time, and how little benefit backup generators bring to the region’s electrical systems. We…