People and Power: Electricity Sector Reforms and the Poor in Europe and Central Asia, Pagina 419

The debate on how to conduct pro-poor reforms of utilities frequently condemns tariff-based subsidies as socially regressive. But the empirical insights on household behavior and electricity consumption patterns in this book reveal that, in ECA, where access to utilities is almost universal, the erosion of tariff based subsidies has disproportionately affected the poor, while direct transfers through social benefit systems have often been inadequately targeted. The book suggests alternative strategies for achieving cost-recovery in the electricity sector in a socially and politically acceptable manner, providing lessons that are equally relevant for other utilities and regions.