While developing countries are increasingly connecting their populations to electricity, more than 3.5 billion people still lack reliable energy and the social and economic benefits that come with it. A new working paper published by the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project at Duke explores how advances in digital technologies, coupled with shifts in development finance, could enable new performance-linked incentives to improve grid reliability.

A new study sheds light on how political influence affects the distribution of Northern Bangladesh's TR/Kabita solar home system program. "If we want energy access and other basic services to reach the underserved truly, we need systems that not only deliver but also listen," lead author Rafia Zaman, postdoctoral associate at the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project, told Environment for Development.