With Energy Safety Nets: Using Social Assistance Mechanisms to Close Affordability Gaps for the Poor, an accompanying Guide for Policymakers, and six country case studies, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and partners Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) have developed first-of-its-kind research to inform best practices at the intersection of energy policy and social assistance to protect very poor, vulnerable and marginalized people.
Energy Safety Net is a term describing government-led approaches to support the very poor and vulnerable to access essential modern energy services (electricity as well as clean fuels and technology for cooking). They close the affordability gap between market prices and what poor consumers can pay for both connections and service delivery tariffs, ensuring that households or social groups are not left behind in progress to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
These reports and case studies from Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya and Mexico distill and build on critical lessons learned from these six countries’ experiences with Energy Safety Nets. The Energy Safety Nets research series identifies innovative solutions around social assistance mechanisms, which can be used to closed energy access affordability gaps for individuals and families who need the most support. This work is an important first step in building an understanding of how to best-design Energy Safety Nets to improve people’s welfare.
This report synthesizes lessons learned from six country case studies and offers recommendations for the future design of Energy Safety Nets.
A practical guide for policymakers, development financiers and the international community to follow when planning Energy Safety Nets
This report provides guidance for policy- and decision-makers, by identifying measures in Brazil that have been successful in enabling very poor people to access modern energy.
Ghana has implemented various interventions to increase access to electricity and clean cooking fuels. The overall aim of this case study is to identify the measures that have been put in place to enable poor and vulnerable Ghanaians to access and use modern energy services.
The aim of this case study is to identify measures that have been implemented to enable poor people to access modern energy services in India, analyze their impact, and explore the reasons for their success or lack thereof.
This case study investigates how the Government of Indonesia supports access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for its citizens.
How to improve the understanding of the opportunities and challenges in using targeted subsidies or social assistance measures to enable very poor people in Kenya to access modern energy services.
This study analyzes Mexico’s experience with social safety nets over two decades and highlights four programs that have delivered increased access to electricity and LPG for cooking.