EarthSpark International is working to eradicate energy poverty. Energy poverty is the cycle of poverty that exist when people don’t have access to modern fuels, especially electricity. More than a billion people worldwide do not have access to electricity. And even more people do not have access to reliable electricity. For many of these people, they spend a very large portion of their income on energy services such as kerosene, candles, batteries and cell phone charging services. EarthSpark International researches and develops business models that can spin-off and scale to address specific aspects of energy poverty. EarthSpark provides a pre-pay microgrid in Les Anglais, Haiti. They serve over 2000 people with 24-hour electricity powered by solar energy. This solar-powered microgrid provides affordable clean energy. It cuts their customers’ energy costs by up to 80%. Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Allison Archambault “We’re working on business models that can be relevant to energy poverty in many different places.” “Haiti’s the least electrified country in the western hemisphere.” “I signed up for six months and that was six months ago.” “It’s easier to build a town-sized, solar powered smart grid in rural Haiti than it is in Washington, DC, where I live.” “A lot of people in Haiti have cell phones but they don’t have access to electricity.” “Everybody aspires to higher levels of electricity.” “We call it de-risking by doing.” “A microgrid is an energy system that is at a community scale.” “We’re powerful enough to energize industry, and progressive enough to deliver electricity to every single customer within the infrastructure’s footprint.” “We have a solar powered microgrid that is delivering clean, affordable and reliable electricity to about two thousand people in a town in rural Haiti.” “Our mission is to eradicate energy poverty, but the method is to do research and development on business models that we can spin off and scale.” “It’s not one single solution that’s going to solve energy poverty. It’s a real portfolio approach.” “We have a goal of building eighty grids in the next five years.” Social Entrepreneurship Resources: EarthSpark: http://www.earthsparkinternational.org

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