Using Night Lights to Map Electrical Grid Infrastructure

As part of the push for universal access to electricity, the World Bank is making a concerted effort to support the most cost-effective systems and technologies to provide electricity to those most in need. An implicit assumption is that we know where the people are who do and do not have electricity access, and how they get it — often we don’t. A new tool promises to make electrification planning cheaper and faster by predicting the locations of existing infrastructure and connections.