Anant Sudarshan
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Demand for Electricity on the Global Electrification Frontier
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(with Robin Burgess, Michael Greenstone and Nicholas Ryan)
Energy Research
Falling off-grid solar prices and subsidized grid extension are revolutionizing choice for the billion people without electricity. We use experimental price variation to estimate demand over all electricity sources in Bihar, India, during a four-year period when electrification rates leapt from 27% to 64%. We find that household surplus from electrification tripled, with gains due nearly as much to off-grid solar as to the subsidized grid. Choice matters—the surplus from electrification is 3-5× greater than from any one source. Nonetheless, we project future electrification will come mainly from the grid, since households prefer the grid as they grow wealthier.
[Lighting up Bihar]

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​[Smart Metering and Utility Payments]

[Tariff Reform and Farmer Welfare in Rajasthan]

[Decentralized Solar and Rural Electrification]

[Nudges in the Marketplace]

[Real-time Feedback and Electricity Consumption]

[Deconstructing the Rosenfeld Curve]

New Working Paper: Demand for Electricity on the Global Electrification Frontier
Email: anants(at)uchicago(dot)edu
Saieh Hall, 1160 E 58th St. Chicago - 60637, IL