Acumen Energy Impact Report

Energy is essential: it lights up homes and powers communities and businesses. Yet poor households spend a disproportionate amount of their income—around 10 percent—on lighting and phone-charging costs. Despite great improvements in energy access in the last 10 years, the world still has many hurdles to overcome to reach universal energy access.

To understand Acumen’s customer impact in energy, Acumen ran a Lean Data Energy Project from 2016/17, conducting 7500 interviews with 5500 customers all over the world. This data provided standardised, outcome-based impact metrics, ranging across 18 key indicators. 

The study provided key insights into the impact effectiveness of companies in Acumen’s energy portfolio. It found that 74% of customers say that better energy access has improved their lives significantly, and that 31% of customers use their product or services to generate an income. The report also contains deep dives into case studies of improved cookstoves, as well as the solar lighting company d.light. 

To learn more about Acumen’s Lean Data Energy study, take a look at the report below.