Most discussions about solar microgrids focus on sustainable energy and development goals and the technical aspects of electricity generation, storage, transmission, and distribution. Very few explicitly examine the ways in which their introduction upsets and reshapes entrenched practices of electoral politics and citizen claim-making around electricity access an...

The electricity distribution sector in Uttar Pradesh has, since the late 1980s, faced the persistent problem of poor performance by its public electricity distribution companies (discoms), which are crippled by high levels of debt. Following years of discussion and at a time of fiscal crisis, in 1999, the government of Uttar Pradesh, supported by the World Bank, ...

Uttarakhand currently enjoys an energy sector where power cuts are limited, electricity tariffs are some of the lowest in India, full electrification is close to being achieved, and the state’s public power distribution company (discom) has low levels of debt and does not require government subsidies. This position has been achieved because Uttarakhand has a la...