On the recordFebruary 1, 2016
I stand in strong support of S. 2152 an important legislation. I support S. 2152 because it seeks to establish a comprehensive United States policy that encourages the efforts of countries in Africa to develop an appropriate mix of electricity solutions, including renewable energy, for more broadly distributed electricity access in order to support poverty reduction, promote development outcomes, and drive economic growth, and for other purposes. According to the World Bank, those living on $1.25 day in Africa accounted for 48.5% of the population in that region in 2010. Moreover, the U.S. Energy Information Administration statistics state that in 2011 the whole of Africa possessed only 78 gigawatts of installed generation capacity, of which South Africa accounted for 44 gigawatts. By comparison, installed capacity in the United States alone was 1,053 gigawatts. In other words, all of Africa has only 7% of the electric capacity of the United States. This is why S. 2152 is important, as it can be instrumental in helping to facilitate higher energy capacities in Africa. Furthermore, actual production capacity for Africa is likely to be substantially lower than the theoretical quantity because of inadequate maintenance, outmoded equipment and fuel shortages. Using per-capita data, a US citizen on average uses 12,461 kilowatt hours of electricity per annum; a citizen of Ethiopia uses 52.…
