Open: NCIIA 14th Annual Conference

We received a 2008 Sustainable Vision grant from the NCIIA for a proposal titled "Pico-hydropower franchises: a test bed in rural Honduras." This grant enabled us to establish two village-level electricity companies in north-central Honduras, which have become development laboratories to determine best practices for both our technical and business operations. Our goal has been to refine our engineering and operations tasks with sufficient detail that future systems can be established as true franchises. The "business-in-a-box" aspect of electricity companies as franchises enables rural agricultural workers to operate and maintain electrical generation and distribution equipment and provides the necessary business structure for success. Villagers enter the franchise without cash and ultimately share a portion of the profits after capital expenditures have been recouped. Villagers and investors earn income from the franchises, which also generate environmental and social benefits resulting from decreased usage of fossil fuel-burning lanterns and increased quality of light.