아프리카ㆍ중동

This paper is based on research conducted in Kitwe, Zambia on the effects of the introduction of prepayment meters on the energy usage behaviour of domestic consumers in the Low, Medium and High Income categories. The research was motivated by the fact that there is very little information that exists on the subject not just in Zambia but world-wide. The paper has identified some key issue vis-a-viz: behavioral change as a result of the introduction of the prepayment meters, debt recovery and reduction of pilferage, disconnection of consumers and alternative energy sources and feedback. The data was collected in Kwacha (Low Income), Ndeke (Medium Income) and Parklands (High Income). This was both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was collected through structured questionnaires of which 151 were collected in total as follows: 59 (Kwacha); 50 (Ndeke) and 42 (Parklands). The qualitative data was collected through detailed interviews conducted with four households in each of the three household categories.The major findings are that there is general satisfaction from the households on the introduction of the prepayment meters citing control over expenditure and no disputes on bills as the main reasons.