Electricity as a clean cooking option: What can we learn from cross-country comparison

Cooking, a ubiquitous household activity, presents a significant opportunity for energy transition. This study focuses on the transition to the understudied and under-adopted—despite high electricity access— practice of electric cooking as a clean solution by examining both demand and supply factors. Using nationally representative data from India, Nepal, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, we highlight the role of electricity reliability as a central determinant of electric cooking adoption. Reliability consistently shows a strong positive association with adoption in India, Nepal, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, underscoring that access alone is insufficient without dependable supply. Alongside reliability, household expenditure, urban location, and education also emerge as important correlates. Qualitative evidence further reveals that while electric cooking is valued for its speed and convenience, it is predominantly used in a stacked manner and faces several barriers—poor and unreliable electricity quality, inadequate household electrical wiring and infrastructure, high upfront appliance costs, limited appliance durability, and lack of local repair services— that inhibit greater use of this fuel. These findings can be valuable for further research, data collection, and government policies to effectively scale electric cooking