Under the Grid

This report introduces the concept of "undergrid minigrids" to improve electricity service for communities in sub-Saharan Africa that are within distribution company territories but remain underserved by unreliable or non-existent power.

• The report defines "undergrid" communities as those located within distribution company (DisCo) territory that experience unreliable, inconsistent, or low-quality power, or no power at all, leaving them underserved.
• The proposed solution is the implementation of "undergrid minigrids," which are systems that leverage existing distribution infrastructure and incorporate distributed energy resources.
• The pathway for implementing these systems consists of five steps: promoting awareness, developing business models, implementing pilot projects, enabling market growth and scaling, and evaluating benefits.

APA

RMI (2018). Under the Grid. https://rmi.org/resources/under-the-grid/

Chicago

RMI. Under the Grid. 2018. https://rmi.org/resources/under-the-grid/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Under the Grid |date=19 November 2018 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/under-the-grid/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2018under, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Under the Grid}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/under-the-grid/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }