How Valuable is the Reliability of Residential Electricity Supply in Low-Income Countries ? Evidence from Nepal

Anna Alberini, Jevgenijs Steinbuks and Govinda Timilsina ()

No 9311, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This study uses a contingent valuation approach to value the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved service experienced by households in Nepal following the end of the country's load-shedding crisis of 2008-2016. Using a detailed survey of grid-connected Nepali households, the authors calculate the WTP per outage-day avoided and the residential value of lost (VoLL) and analyze their key drivers. Households are willing to pay, on average, 123.32 NR ($1.11) per month, or 65 percent of the actual average monthly bill for improved quality of power supply. The preferred estimates of the VoLL are in the range of 5 to 15 NR/kWh (¢4.7-¢14/kWh). These estimates are below the marginal cost of avoided load shedding, and virtually the same as valuations at the beginning of the load-shedding crisis.

Keywords: Energy Policies&Economics; Energy Demand; Energy and Mining; Energy and Environment; Educational Sciences; Electric Power (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-06-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-ene and nep-reg
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9311

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