Access to electricity is a vital indicator of wellbeing and standard of living. Governments in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico have made remarkable advances in expanding access to electricity, reducing the share of people without power to single digits. Progress has slowed in the past decade, however, signaling that universal access has slipped down policymakers’ agendas.

Brazil, for example, has already achieved a 99.8% electrification rate, including connecting more than 17 million low-income households through its Luz para Todos, or Light for All, program. Yet many people still lack access to electricity. Estimates concerning how many inhabitants are affected — mainly those in the Legal Amazon region — range from 1.2 to 1.5 million people.

Extending traditional power grids to serve remote and sparsely populated areas can be vastly more expensive than urban areas. It is all the more important, however, as remote regions must often rely on polluting resources like diesel. Fortunately, renewable technologies such as photovoltaic panels, batteries and mini-grids can offer cost-effective and practical alternatives for reaching the remaining unserved populations.

In exploring solutions for Brazil, authors Alejandro Hernandez, Luiz G S de Oliveira and Bibiana Sáenz analyzed electricity access programs in Peru, Nigeria and Rwanda that provide powerful lessons about the effectiveness of decentralized, performance-driven approaches. The nations have successfully tailored combinations of tender procedures, results-based financing and innovative regulatory frameworks to expand electricity access quickly and sustainably.

Achieving the final push for universal electricity access in Brazil will require developing new delivery models that feature standardized, performance-based procurement, greater participation from specialized third-party developers and community partners, ring-fenced financing and deployment of new technologies.

Specific recommendations for Brazil include:

• Bridging the viability gap through public funding while maintaining affordable tariffs.
• Using competitive tenders with flexibility to reach remote regions, based on centralized identification of the most efficient technology for delivering electricity in each location.
• Defining clear responsibilities and having a single agent responsible for delivering the electricity service.
• Fast-tracking smart metering to foster efficiency and data collection for monitoring quality of service.
• Linking payments to verified performance.
• Planning for eventual grid arrival and opening markets so new entrants can operate where incumbents cannot.

With the right incentives and institutional clarity, Brazil can deliver on its universal access promise and become a model for other nations still striving to reach the last mile.

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