Systematic exclusion of “extra” costs due to unreliability of electricity understates the actual extent of energy poverty in SSA

The analysis demonstrates that households in Benin incur significant additional expenses for voltage stabilizers and generators to cope with power outages and fluctuations. When these 'extra' costs are included in energy poverty metrics, the percentage of energy-poor connected households rises from 51% to 72%. The report argues that current assessments are insufficient and calls for policymakers to incorporate these defensive costs into energy poverty measurements to design more targeted alleviation strategies.

• Extra electricity costs, which include investments in voltage stabilizers and the operation of generators, make up 41% of the total electricity expenditures for households.
• Including extra costs for defensive strategies significantly increases the measured rate of energy poverty among connected households in Benin, rising from 51% (based only on bills) to 72%.
• Among connected households, there is a higher tendency to invest in voltage stabilizers (26%) than in power generators (7%) to protect against power quality issues rather than total unavailability.
• The operating costs of power generators are the most significant component of extra electricity expenses, averaging FCFA 12,399 (USD 21) monthly, whereas voltage stabilizer investments average FCFA 516 (USD 1) monthly.
• Household wealth, determined by asset ownership, is a more significant factor in preventing energy poverty than the employment status of the household head.
• Energy poverty is more prevalent among households that experience planned blackouts and voltage fluctuations, those that use electricity for economic activities, and those that rely on generators.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (n.d.). Systematic exclusion of “extra” costs due to unreliability of electricity understates the actual extent of energy poverty in SSA. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/27142926/benin-household-energy-poverty_exsummary-english.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Systematic exclusion of “extra” costs due to unreliability of electricity understates the actual extent of energy poverty in SSA. n.d. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/27142926/benin-household-energy-poverty_exsummary-english.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Systematic exclusion of “extra” costs due to unreliability of electricity understates the actual extent of energy poverty in SSA |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/27142926/benin-household-energy-poverty_exsummary-english.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforcendsystematic, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Systematic exclusion of “extra” costs due to unreliability of electricity understates the actual extent of energy poverty in SSA}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/27142926/benin-household-energy-poverty_exsummary-english.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }