Electricity access is commonly acknowledged as a basic need for human development (Scott and Seth, 2013), and has been described as a moral imperative, socially prudent and an economic necessity (GEA, 2016: 19). Aside from the public-good dimension of safe and reliable electricity supply, consumer protection and guaranteed access are important political-economy considerations (Bamber et al., Such energy-security concerns generally serve to reinforce State control and regulation of the electricity sector (Kuik et al.,