ABSTRACT
There are actually several methods that have been used to attempt to evaluate the benefits of electrification and, in particular, rural electrification that have been applied to developing countries. One involves the concept of Willingness to Pay which establishes a conservative benchmark, albeit likely much less than the actual value of electricity. The goal of the qualitative interviews was to get a better understanding of the factors that might make businesses less likely to support investments in the US power system. By using a survey approach to it, they directly asked people’s willingness to pay for a “good” or attribute of a purchase. In this case for improvement in electricity reliability. The researchers observed that empirical studies typically treat electricity as one good of many consumed by households. Strictly speaking this is correct—households do consume electricity. Willingness to pay estimates are based on the premise that customer would be willing to pay to avoid the surprise loss of electricity service.
