[06] The lessons learned from past experiences

‘The project in Paraisópolis is not the first slum electrification project in Brazil’, notes Garcia. ‘In Rio de Janeiro city, where non-technical losses amount to 40 per cent, the local utilities have tried similar projects. But after a few years, there were high rates of recidivism. Even advanced technology like remote connection control and anti-theft cables could not prevent people from making illegal connections again.

The problem with those projects was that they did not provide a continuous presence in the slum areas. Such a presence is really crucial for such projects to succeed’, observes Garcia. ‘No matter which technology you use, people will always find some way to sidestep it. A slum is a strong and densely populated community. If one person finds a way to avoid paying for their electricity, many others will quickly follow. This is one of the elements that make slum electrification totally different from rural electrification projects.’