Despite global progress towards improving energy access, major challenges remain for closing the energy access gap between ultra-poor and better off households, and for reaching ultra-poor and last mile populations. Using data from Malawi, we explore the energy access gap between ultra-poor (N = 900) and better-off households (N = 2666) from the same communities. Compared to better-off households, ultra-poor households had significantly increased odds of having no lighting (OR = 1.58), and significantly reduced odds of having improved lighting (OR = 0.89), owning an improved firewood cookstove (OR = 0.90), and owning a charcoal stove (OR = 0.86). A sub-set of ultra-poor households in our sample received unconditional social cash transfer program (SCTP) payments from the Government of Malawi. Recipients of SCTP payments had significantly reduced odds of having no source of lighting in the household (OR = 0.21) and were more than three times more likely to own an improved cookstove (OR = 3.64) compared to ultra-poor households that have not received payments. The absolute value of per capita expenditures on energy related goods and services is statistically significantly higher for ultra-poor households that receive social cash transfers. We conclude that ultra-poor households experience greater depth of energy poverty compared to better-off households in the same communities. We also find that unconditional social cash transfer payments contribute to improved energy access for the ultra-poor, suggesting that they are a potentially important strategy for catalyzing energy transitions among the ultra-poor.

尽管全球在改善能源获取方面取得了进展，但要弥合超贫困和富裕家庭之间的能源获取差距，以及如何达到超贫困人口和最后一英里人口，仍然存在着重大挑战。利用马拉维的数据，我们探索了超贫困家庭（N  = 900）和富裕家庭（N = 2666）。与富裕家庭相比，超贫困家庭拥有改善的柴火灶（OR = 0.90）的情况下，没有照明的机会大大增加（OR = 1.58），显着降低了没有照明的机会（OR = 0.89），并拥有一个木炭炉（OR = 0.86）。在我们的样本中，有一组超贫困家庭从马拉维政府获得了无条件社会现金转移计划（SCTP）付款。与没有接收超极贫困家庭相比，SCTP的接收者大大减少了家庭中没有照明的可能性（OR = 0.21），拥有改良炉灶的可能性（OR = 3.64）是后者的三倍以上。付款。统计上，接受社会现金转移的超贫困家庭的人均能源相关产品和服务支出的绝对值要高得多。我们得出的结论是，与同一社区的富裕家庭相比，超贫困家庭的能源贫困深度更大。我们还发现，无条件的社会现金转移支付有助于改善超贫困人口的能源获取，这表明它们是催化超贫困人口之间能源转换的潜在重要战略。