Jorge Nieto Jimenez

Energy access figures prominently in development agendas, but in highland areas, the costs of a centralized grid are typically high, returns are low, and government support is very limited. In this context, one approach has been to establish small, autonomous systems in some areas, a strategy that also promises a reduced environmental impact and better prospects for social acceptance. International agencies and NGOs embraced the model and have supported the financing and management of these operations.

Nevertheless, financial resources, generation capacity and transmission infrastructure are still scarce, so it becomes inevitable to take decisions over which uses, and users, to prioritize. Cooperation agencies have tended to favor what is usually termed Productive End Use (PEU). Usually, the communities decide what specific productive activities to pursue, but they also become responsible for financing them. Their choices shape the specifics of the projects, their environmental impact, and the overall success from the beneficiary’s point of view. However, the results largely depend on market forces that lie outside of the communities’ control. With the objective of contributing to our understanding of how these decisions have been made, and the challenges they have faced, I pose the following questions in the context of communities where electricity is still scarce:

1.      What productive activities have been implemented? What are the other uses?

2.      How they have decided the distribution of energy sources amongst the different uses and users?

3.      What obstacles they have faced in their plans? What help they have received?

4.      How have they coped with obstacles and administered aid?

I am examining these questions in the context of Southern Shan State, Myanmar, a region that is experiencing rapid, but still insufficient growth in energy infrastructure and availability. Deriving insights from qualitative and quantitative data would allow us to identify common trends that can inform decisions in the region, and in similar contexts.