Electricity access has improved globally, with 92 per cent of the world's population connected by 2023. Still, 666-670 million people remain without electricity, and a staggering 85 per cent of these individuals are in Sub‑Saharan Africa, where population growth is outpacing new connections.

COVID‑19 disruptions and the recent energy-price crisis temporarily slowed progress, but growth resumed in 2023. However, current policies are not robust enough to ensure every person will have access to electricity by 2030. It's important to note that this statistic refers to basic access — not renewable or sustainable electricity sources.

Even among those technically 'connected', millions face significant hurdles. Around 446 million people are counted as electrified but cannot use power reliably due to high costs, frequent outages, lack of suitable appliances, or reliance on inefficient devices. Additionally, roughly 2.1 billion people globally depend on polluting fuels for cooking — wood, charcoal, dung, and kerosene. These fuels have severe health and gender impacts, with an estimated 3.2 million premature deaths annually attributed to household air pollution.

Australia - energy poverty in the midst of riches

Australia stands out as a nation where nearly universal physical access to electricity exists, yet energy poverty remains more prevalent than what it otherwise should be.

The root causes are high costs, poor housing quality, and extreme weather, not the absence of infrastructure.

A recent national survey revealed that between 10-15% of Australian households — nearly 1.8 million — experience energy hardship. This includes not being able to adequately heat or cool their homes or struggling to pay energy bills.

The most vulnerable groups are low-income households, renters, single-parent families, older Australians, and those living in poorly insulated homes.

Despite growing adoption of renewables like solar, wind, and pumped hydro (which have negligible operating costs), the high up-front investment and network expenses have doubled retail electricity prices from 2009-10 to 2024-25, to an average of $0.29/kWh. While reforms have tweaked billing structures, the ex-post approach (charging after consumption) continues to expose households to bill shocks and distress.

Australia boasts the world's highest rate of household solar uptake: over 4 million homes — about one in three — have rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems. In 2024-25, households consumed approximately $24 billion worth of electricity, with $23 billion purchased from retailers and about $1 billion generated and used directly via rooftop solar.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), household solar PV systems saved Australians nearly $3 billion in 2024-25, equating to about $125 per person or $300 per household annually. These savings are not just theoretical — they represent actual electricity bills avoided.

However, of the 4.1 million solar PV-equipped homes, only about 380,000 are investment properties, meaning renters benefit very little. Most of the $3 billion in solar savings goes to owner‑occupiers, while 85-90 per cent of renters are left out. Those missing out are disproportionately lower‑income, young, First Nations, or living in apartments and poorly insulated dwellings. The recent home battery incentive programs have only reinforced these inequalities.

What's more, the substantial savings that accrue to solar-equipped households create a negative feedback loop in the final electricity bills of households. Since the supply chain is largely driven by fixed costs — building and maintaining assets — household bills are calculated on average cost functions.

When 4.1 million solar customers use less grid electricity, those fixed costs are recovered from fewer kilowatt hours, pushing up prices for everyone else, particularly those unable to access rooftop solar.

These inequities are most pronounced in urban, regional, and especially remote Indigenous communities.

Remote Indigenous communities facing 'particularly severe' energy conditions

First Nations-led research highlights that energy poverty in Australia is particularly severe in these communities, despite near-universal access.

The Right to Power report found that over 65,000 First Nations households rely on prepayment electricity systems, resulting in an average of 49 disconnections per household per year due to affordability issues. Extreme heat further worsens the situation, with disconnections more than doubling during heatwaves. Cost, housing conditions, and climate extremes — not grid connection — are the primary drivers of energy hardship.

Most Indigenous housing is public, and barriers to installing solar PV are not solely about income. The monopoly electricity provider often restricts rooftop solar installations, especially in former missions and remote areas.

Prepaid meters are often cited as technical obstacles by incumbent providers, but the real issue is administrative and commercial. Technical limitations, so-called weak, isolated grids, diesel microgrids, hosting capacity, and voltage control — are used as pretexts, not the prepaid mechanisms themselves. Still, prepaid meters interact with these constraints and restrict households' access to solutions like solar power and battery storage, as outlined in the First Nations Clean Energy Network report.

In Queensland, this provider manages 33 Isolated Networks, 30 of which serve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Strict limits are placed on solar PV capacity, and the provider retains final approval over any third-party installations.

Regulatory bodies like the AER and ACCC have not deemed this policy or regulatory structure problematic, leaving communities at the mercy of monopolies and this exacerbates energy poverty. The lived experience of energy poverty is stark: in remote Torres Strait communities, families resort to burning wood to heat water and cook because electricity and gas costs are prohibitive. This echoes the situation in Sub‑Saharan Africa, highlighting the ugly reality of modern Australia, where the most vulnerable are forced to endure conditions reminiscent of the world's poorest regions.

While Australia enjoys near-universal physical access to electricity and leads the world in household solar uptake, energy poverty persists, driven by price, policy, and structural inequalities. These issues are most acute for renters, First Nations people, and those in remote or poorly insulated homes.

The challenge is not simply connecting people to the grid — it is ensuring that energy is affordable, reliable, available, and green for all, regardless of location or economic status.

James Reynolds is a Waanyi Gangalidda person from the Gulf of Carpentaria and founder of Mirabou Energy, a Supply Nation registered business. He has more than 23 years' experience in Australia's energy markets and infrastructure services industries.

Mr Reynolds is also a member of the Investment Advisory Committee to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) Board on the Rewiring the Nation Fund, and a member of the Transaction Advisory Committee to AEMO Services Limited on Commonwealth Capacity Investment Scheme Tranche 4 and 5 and NSW Long Duration Contract Tender.