Scales of accountability: Solar mini-grids and clean energy for all in Uganda

There is great hope pinned on solar mini-grids to fulfil universal rural electrification targets and enable clean energy access, especially in low-income African countries such as Uganda. Yet Ugandan realities are complex, with many unelectrified households in villages the electric grid serves, and varied experiences with the few solar mini-grids implemented in recent years, indicating limited downward accountability. Crucially, large solar plants have arrived, making it timely to resolve the dilemma of just clean energy provision both in and from rural areas. Yet little research on energy transitions in this context exists to explain its political economic complexity. We draw on field visits to three solar mini-grids with contrasting performances, to Uganda's largest 20 MW solar plant, through dozens of villages, and on meetings with the regional utility and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. This is supplemented by knowledge of Uganda's energy policy through document analysis and lived experience. We adapt accountability analysis to deploy a novel ‘scales of accountability’ framework at multiple spatial scales of solar deployment. Our analysis offers insights on the challenges Uganda must address to achieve the potential associated with solar mini-grids and multi-scalar solar energy transitions to achieve universal clean energy access.