Electricity supply industry arrangements and policies on rural electrification

Present estimates put the number of people without access to electricity at just over a quarter of the World population, approximately 1.6 Billion people with most of them residing in rural areas of developing countries. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates suggest that even by the year 2030, there will still be 1.4 Billion people without electricity unless there are dramatic changes in electrification policies. Policy changes are needed to enable governments to reduce poverty. In recent years arrangements for electrification have been affected by deregulation of electricity industries in developing countries. The IEEE Task Force on sustainable Energy Systems for Developing Countries was established to initially undertake a critical review of experiences worldwide of the impact of deregulation and resulting electricity arrangements on sustainable electrification in developing countries and to propose options and approaches for sustainable electrification. This paper presents a progress report and initial findings of the Task Force.