The Contribution of Human Rights to Universal Energy Access

Abstract

services.3 However, it also underestimated the complexity and time required for these contributions to achieve lasting and equitable outcomes.4 ¶3 Over time, the decline in public development financing for electricity sector investment from such donor institutions entailed greater national reliance upon private sector investment; indeed, this was made an explicit condition for continued lending.5 The objective of improving electricity access for disadvantaged social groups was effectively dropped in favor of improving energy sector efficiency.6 It was also anticipated that tendencies to oversupply would be eliminated.7 With financial viability as the overriding concern, there was little political commitment at the national level to promoting sustainable development through electricity sector reforms.It quickly became evident that without conscientious go vernmental effort, market reforms would not support greater access.8 ¶4 Moreover, national governments believed that foreign direct investment would provide the principal financial capital for constructing the necessary energy infrastructure.9 Increasing private sector participation was expected to improve consumer choice in energy service provision, particularly for the poor.10 However, this liberalization model "may not be the complete answer," particularly where private companies demonstrate little interest in expanding electricity supplies to rural areas.11 Indeed, electricity expenditure could increase as a proportion of income, especially for the poor, while consumption remains static.12 Furthermore, falling electricity tariffs typically have not matched productivity improvements, thereby implying that private operators shared with governments some of the gains through rents and higher tax revenue.13 ¶5 More specifically, the social welfare objectives of electricity sector restructuring included raising service quality, ensuring affordability, and widening access.14

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 27 citations exist upstream.