Living Without Electricity in Baja California

Living Without Electricity in Baja California

Introduction

Baja California is considered one of the states with the most opportunities for economic prosperity in Mexico. There are ample employment opportunities in advanced technologies and it shares a border with the US state of California, one of the most prosperous in the United States. It is difficult to imagine that families live in the state of Baja California without electricity. However, according to the last Mexican census carried out by INEGI in 2020, approximately 26,000 people live in extreme energy poverty and without access to electricity. 1 To further understand this pernicious energy poverty challenge, the Institute of the Americas in collaboration with the Colegio de la Frontera Norte (El Colef) and Pronatura Noroeste, developed a study to analyze the causes and effects of the lack of access to electricity in Baja California with the goal of giving voice to the people who live without such a basic service across the state.

1 It should be noted that, for the purposes of this project, the criterion of considering only those localities that have a number equal to or greater than ten homes without electricity was established, in order to optimize the human and economic resources available for the project. If we consider all the towns in the state, there are approximately 9,600 homes without electricity.

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