The objective of this paper is to shed some light on the benefits of improved access to electricity supply, specifically the benefits referred to as, 'consumer's surplus', which is the difference between what customers are willing to pay for the utilities associated with electricity access and the price that they actually pay. The paper leads to several important policy messages for the preparation of investments aiming to increase energy access in developing countries: consumer surplus as the measure for estimating benefits of enlarged access by households to public electricity supply needs to be used with caution
make sure that benefits of increased access to electricity are measured both in terms of gains in consumer surplus and gains in real income from electrification
plan electricity access expansion taking into account that reinforced electricity access may increase consumption of electricity modestly
plan electrification along with accompanying measures to ease access to electricity consuming appliances
and strengthen public data on energy consumption. The paper leads to specific conclusions relative to: the methodology to calculate benefits of increased electricity access
demand patterns for lighting purposes
demand patterns for entertainment and information purposes, and (4) other uses of energy.