Power

Overview

The State of Affairs

In today’s economy, abundant electricity is the single biggest determinant of economic opportunity in the 21st century — prosperity, security, and dignity all come through an electrical outlet. Every major development goal — from health and education to jobs and security — now depends on reliable, affordable, sustainable, and abundant electricity. But still, more than 730 million people lack access to basic electricity, and billions more don’t have enough reliable energy to power basic economic activities.

We believe achieving universal energy abundance is one of the most important and effective investments we can make to advance human dignity and opportunity in the 21st century.

Why It Matters

>0BillionBillion
people face energy shortfalls
including 730 million without access to any electricity worldwide
0%%
of people in sub-Saharan Africa
the continent with the lowest access rate, are without electricity today
0%%
of the world’s population
live in low- and lower-middle-income countries, which received only 7% of global clean energy spending in 2022

How We Respond

Our Strategy

1 Scaling through the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet: We’re taking urgent action to accelerate energy access and achieve universal energy abundance. We made the biggest bet in The Rockefeller Foundation's history in the Global Energy Alliance, to build transformative partnerships to unleash a renewable energy revolution.
2 Strengthening Energy Systems in collaboration with the Alliance: We’re creating market tipping points to drive transformational change in low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on building grids of the future that power households and robust economies.
3 Spurring Clean Energy Investments: We incubate and invest in strategies to accelerate inclusive global energy transitions led by the Alliance and our other partners. We focus on supporting local capacity, developing innovative approaches to expand energy access, and propelling global shifts to clean energy.

Featured Content

The Green Power Gap
3.8 billion people lack adequate access to electricity, limiting their opportunities. Closing the 8,700 terawatt-hour Green Power Gap by 2050 is essential to achieving global development and climate goals.
Delivering Indonesia’s Power Sector Transition
The Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) analysis, supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, found that preventing nine planned Indonesian coal plants would avoid nearly 300 million tons of emissions for less than 80 cents per ton of CO2. This study emphasizes the significant environmental benefits of shifting Indonesia's energy sector from coal to cleaner alternatives.

Current Actions

Initiatives

Africa Energy Futures

Building capabilities and tools for energy system modeling to facilitate transition planning across Africa

Power Africa

African School of Regulation

Creating a center of excellence to support the transition to a sustainable energy system in Africa

Power Africa

Coal to Clean Credits

Leveraging high-integrity carbon credits to accelerate the early retirement and replacement of coal-fired power plants with clean energy while supporting impacted workers and communities

Power Global

Data and Technology

Improving the quality of data and availability of technology solutions to advance the energy transition in low-and-middle-income countries

Power Asia

GEA Leadership Council

Bringing together a coalition of leaders to address the most challenging barriers to scaling just energy transitions and keep global warming below 1.5°C

Power Africa

Global Energy Alliance

Averting carbon emissions, expanding energy access, and creating jobs

Power Global

Mission 300

Speeding up solutions to bring access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy where over 80% of the world's unelectrified population lives

Power Africa

All Power Initiatives