Electricity access policies are complex and impact a range of issues—including energy, health, rural development, finance and education— in developing countries. Many consumers may benefit from distributed energy technologies, such as off-grid solar electricity or renewable energy mini-grids. While these options require new business models and add complexity to government regulations and policies, they also offer options to increase clean energy supply and attract new financing into energy access markets.

Government decision makers need to understand the basic policy options as well as the impacts those decisions can have across a range of sectors.

To meet this need, the Clean Energy Solutions Center is preparing a report on policy options for expanding clean electricity access in developing countries. The report, which will be developed in partnership with international energy access experts, will consist of two parts:

• An overview of the range of policies for promoting access to clean electricity, such as renewable energy, with basic explanations and information on the role of the policies and on how policies interact with each other
• Several in-depth case studies from various regions on clean energy access programs with a detailed look at the various government decisions and policies that shaped each program.

While the overview of policies can provide a basic fluency in clean electricity access issues and decisions for policymakers, the case studies will present real-world examples of how these policies can be combined to provide energy access solutions.

The report will be available at the Sixth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM6) to be held in Mexico City in spring 2015 and will also be posted to the Solutions Center website.