Energy Safety Nets: A Guide for Policymakers

Energy Safety Net is an umbrella term for government-led approaches to support very poor and vulnerable people to access essential modern energy services, such as electricity and clean fuels and technologies for cooking, by closing the affordability gap between market prices and what poor customers can afford to pay. Energy Safety Nets can make physical access (i.e., connections) to electricity or clean fuels affordable or they can make the unit price of electricity or fuel affordable to consume. Energy Safety Nets include some form of targeting or eligibility criteria to ensure that benefits accrue to those who need them.

This practical guide for policymakers, development financiers, and the international community is based on experience with Energy Safety Nets in six countries (Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya and Mexico).