Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies?
Utility subsidies to consumers of water and electricity services are often justified as a mechanism for making services affordable for the poor. After all, an estimated 1.1 billion people in the developing world lack access to safe water, 2 billion...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/10/10026773/water-electricity-poor-benefits-utility-subsidies http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11745 |
| id |
okr-10986-11745 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
okr-10986-117452021-04-23T14:02:57Z Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies? Komives, Kristin Foster, Vivien Halpern, Jonathan Wodon, Quentin Abdullah, Roohi ACCESS TO SAFE WATER BLOCK TARIFFS CITIES CONNECTION CONNECTION CHARGES CONNECTION COSTS CONNECTIONS CONSUMERS CONSUMPTION INCREASES COST RECOVERY CUBIC METERS CUBIC METERS OF WATER DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS DRAIN DRINKING WATER ELECTRICITY SERVICES EXCLUSION FIXED CHARGES GDP HOUSEHOLDS INCOME MAINTENANCE COSTS PRICE INCREASES PUBLIC SUBSIDIES PUBLIC TAP PUBLIC TAPS QUALITY OF SERVICE REVENUE COLLECTION SANITATION SUBSIDIZATION TARGETED SUBSIDY TARIFF STRUCTURE USER CHARGES UTILITIES UTILITY SERVICES VOLUME OF WATER WATER BILLS WATER SECTOR WATER SOURCES WATER SUBSIDIES WATER SUBSIDY WATER TARIFFS WATER UTILITIES Utility subsidies to consumers of water and electricity services are often justified as a mechanism for making services affordable for the poor. After all, an estimated 1.1 billion people in the developing world lack access to safe water, 2 billion are without electricity, and 2.4 billion without sanitation. But critics object that such subsidies can work against improving quality of service to existing consumers and extending access to unconnected households. Financially strapped utilities are often inefficient, provide low-quality services, and lag behind in expanding networks. During the 1990s, experts urged that water and electricity services should charge enough to fully cover costs. Households could spend 10-50 percent more on water and electricity without major effects on poverty levels, but in many countries much larger price increases are needed to recover costs. A substantial proportion of the population of lower income countries may find it difficult to pay the full cost of services. 2012-08-13T15:54:13Z 2012-08-13T15:54:13Z 2008-10 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/10/10026773/water-electricity-poor-benefits-utility-subsidies http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11745 English Water P-Notes; No. 20 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Brief Publications & Research |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
ACCESS TO SAFE WATER BLOCK TARIFFS CITIES CONNECTION CONNECTION CHARGES CONNECTION COSTS CONNECTIONS CONSUMERS CONSUMPTION INCREASES COST RECOVERY CUBIC METERS CUBIC METERS OF WATER DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS DRAIN DRINKING WATER ELECTRICITY SERVICES EXCLUSION FIXED CHARGES GDP HOUSEHOLDS INCOME MAINTENANCE COSTS PRICE INCREASES PUBLIC SUBSIDIES PUBLIC TAP PUBLIC TAPS QUALITY OF SERVICE REVENUE COLLECTION SANITATION SUBSIDIZATION TARGETED SUBSIDY TARIFF STRUCTURE USER CHARGES UTILITIES UTILITY SERVICES VOLUME OF WATER WATER BILLS WATER SECTOR WATER SOURCES WATER SUBSIDIES WATER SUBSIDY WATER TARIFFS WATER UTILITIES |
| spellingShingle |
ACCESS TO SAFE WATER BLOCK TARIFFS CITIES CONNECTION CONNECTION CHARGES CONNECTION COSTS CONNECTIONS CONSUMERS CONSUMPTION INCREASES COST RECOVERY CUBIC METERS CUBIC METERS OF WATER DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS DRAIN DRINKING WATER ELECTRICITY SERVICES EXCLUSION FIXED CHARGES GDP HOUSEHOLDS INCOME MAINTENANCE COSTS PRICE INCREASES PUBLIC SUBSIDIES PUBLIC TAP PUBLIC TAPS QUALITY OF SERVICE REVENUE COLLECTION SANITATION SUBSIDIZATION TARGETED SUBSIDY TARIFF STRUCTURE USER CHARGES UTILITIES UTILITY SERVICES VOLUME OF WATER WATER BILLS WATER SECTOR WATER SOURCES WATER SUBSIDIES WATER SUBSIDY WATER TARIFFS WATER UTILITIES Komives, Kristin Foster, Vivien Halpern, Jonathan Wodon, Quentin Abdullah, Roohi Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies? |
| relation |
Water P-Notes; No. 20 |
| description |
Utility subsidies to consumers of water
and electricity services are often justified as a mechanism
for making services affordable for the poor. After all, an
estimated 1.1 billion people in the developing world lack
access to safe water, 2 billion are without electricity, and
2.4 billion without sanitation. But critics object that such
subsidies can work against improving quality of service to
existing consumers and extending access to unconnected
households. Financially strapped utilities are often
inefficient, provide low-quality services, and lag behind in
expanding networks. During the 1990s, experts urged that
water and electricity services should charge enough to fully
cover costs. Households could spend 10-50 percent more on
water and electricity without major effects on poverty
levels, but in many countries much larger price increases
are needed to recover costs. A substantial proportion of the
population of lower income countries may find it difficult
to pay the full cost of services. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Brief |
| author |
Komives, Kristin Foster, Vivien Halpern, Jonathan Wodon, Quentin Abdullah, Roohi |
| author_facet |
Komives, Kristin Foster, Vivien Halpern, Jonathan Wodon, Quentin Abdullah, Roohi |
| author_sort |
Komives, Kristin |
| title |
Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies? |
| title_short |
Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies? |
| title_full |
Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies? |
| title_fullStr |
Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies? |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies? |
| title_sort |
water, electricity, and the poor : who benefits from utility subsidies? |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/10/10026773/water-electricity-poor-benefits-utility-subsidies http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11745 |
| _version_ |
1764417845146419200 |