Advancing Energy Efficiency in Developing Countries: Lessons Learned from Low-Income Residential Experiences in Industrialized Countries

The potential for energy efficiency to simultaneously address economic development, energy security, and environmental protection in countries around the world is well known. Energy efficiency can have even more pronounced impacts in developing countries, where citizens need increased access to energy, utilities might struggle to keep up with demand, and public and private capital to expand availability of energy and improve quality of service is scarce.

This report presents lessons learned in delivering energy-efficiency programs for low-income households that are taken from experiences in the United States and other member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The intent is to provide best practices from experiences in industrial countries that are applicable to each stage of a developing country’s deployment cycle with a focus on urban environments that are already electrified.