A connection is not the whole system

The challenge

Electricity access shapes what households and businesses can do. Planning also requires information about demand, affordability, service reliability and the economics of reaching dispersed communities.

What the number does—and does not—say

This historical global baseline measures basic access, not continuous supply, outage duration or affordability. Later report editions may revise it; use the linked report for the scope of this estimate.

A question worth investigating

What would demand, outages and payment records reveal about the service a community actually receives?

Labs research direction: start with a defined population and location, review the source methodology, and validate assumptions with people working in the sector. This question is our interpretation; the statistic alone does not establish causes or prove a particular solution.