Concern over climate change, along with high and fluctuating oil prices and the very real possibility that fossil fuels will run out in the future are leading people the world over to seek alternate sources of energy. Some efforts are government-led, and others are non-governmental. Join us in conversation with Piyush Jaju, one of the founders of ONergy, an organisation that provides India’s rural poor with access to clean and renewable energy.
When and how did ONergy come into being?
ONergy was started late in 2009. The three of us, Vinay, Ekta and I, were concerned about the environment. We thought we should start an NGO to look at small changes that could be made to lifestyles that would result in increased sustainability, but we wanted the changes to be fun and innovative. Ekta is a filmmaker, so we explored using films, and then Bengali folk art to communicate the message of sustainability. We were heavily involved in advocacy, reaching out to close to 60,000 people across India. We began to realise, however, that there is only so much one can do with advocacy, and decided to look towards policy action. We rode bicycles from Kolkata to Delhi, crossing the coalfields of Jharkhand. and we met with policymakers, experts and grassroots organisations to discuss our over-reliance on fossil fuel. Ekta shot a film about our journey, called Why New Coal, which got global recognition, shown in Copenhagen and Washington, propagating renewable energy as a solution.
What inspired you to start it?
Travelling in rural areas, we witnessed the problems that the poor face in terms of access to clean energy, with people spending money on fossil fuels in amounts that are not justified by the end resources that they receive. They pay so much to have electricity, and it’s completely unreliable. Then they have to pay so much to use diesel and kerosene, which affect them and their environment. That’s when the idea of providing clean energy to rural India came about. India’s rural poor are something like 114 million households, who do not have access to clean and reliable energy, which can only lead to a food, development and environment crisis.
What is the mission and vision of the organisation?
Our vision is simple: we want to provide complete energy solutions to rural India using renewable sources. By complete we mean everything: lighting, cooking, and electrification.
Our mission: to create an ecosystem that connects technology, finance and grassroots organisations to reach out to the bottom of the pyramid in rural India. We want to reach 1 million rural lives in the next five years by providing access to lighting, cooking, electrification and clean water solutions.
What is the modus operandi of the organisation? Who does it benefit and how?
We partner with existing organisations, mostly Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) and NGOs to establish Renewable Energy Centres. Using their existing infrastructure and brand, we penetrate rural areas, offering them solutions to their energy needs. We also train micro-entrepreneurs in various villages, using the existing self-help groups and working through their networks. They are trained in how to service the products we have sold to the villages.
We also educate the people who buy the products on how to use them properly. We benefit people in extremely poor areas, by using a holistic approach. We’re not just selling a product, but we believe in training and capacity building to integrate energy with livelihood. We look at managing the supply chain, promoting techniques and so on. We look for ways to give them energy that result in increased income and savings. For example, we give people who work in the evenings lighting so they can work better, and we train micro-entrepreneurs to increase their income. We aim to build an efficient distribution and servicing network. One of the problems with alternate energy products is that they need a lot of maintenance, so our focus is heavily on the servicing aspect. We also arrange for financing and work towards making products more affordable. Cost adds up in layers, all of which is dumped on the end customer, so we try to eliminate middlemen, work directly with manufacturers and do the assembly ourselves, to reduce the price. We then provide further financing.
How do people in the villages respond to these ideas? Do they embrace them or reject them?
Initially it was very difficult, because in the past there have been lots of programs that have given stuff out for free and disappeared, leaving them uneducated about usage and without a servicing infrastructure. We faced a trust deficit from the perception that, for example, solar power doesn’t work properly, and is expensive.
People required a lot of convincing. We began by reaching out to a few people, who used the product and
were satisfied, and the news then slowly trickled down to others.
Through the approach of working with people to train and educate, and working closely with the NGOs and MFIs who already have a good presence and name since they’ve been working with local issues, we managed to gain some amount of confidence. The lesson there is this: How you approach people is
important.
How do you counter scepticism from villagers?
Typically, we meet with the idea that ‘solar doesn’t work,’ but the problem is often just the battery not charging properly or the device needing to be serviced. Our first rule is: be honest and don’t oversell. We don’t pretend that the product can do anything; we tell them how much they can use it, and what its limitations are. We have also developed learning modules to educate the customers on using the products, and on day-to-day maintenance. We have the system set up so that if there is trouble on the first level a micro entrepreneur looks at it and if it cannot be fixed a tech team will solve the problem in two days. We emphasise servicing and maintenance.
Have you encountered resistance from local power groups, or interference from officials?
Not at the moment, but it is early days yet, about a year. We’ve not worked very closely with the government; we’ve just started working with the Panchayat and the ministry. The government has been helpful so far; top bosses have been encouraging, showing up for inaugurations and so on, and talking about involvement with other programs. Of course there is inefficiency and it takes a lot of time to follow up on things. As for power groups and the suchlike, they have not yet pulled us down but certainly, in rural areas, the challenges are much greater.
Do you have volunteers? How does the volunteering system work?
Last year we had eight people, with four international volunteers from four different countries. We are not a very large organisation, with the three of us at the core and about 14 people in all. We look at involving volunteers in different areas, depending on their skill sets. Last year we had people working in technical stuff, supply chain, marketing, and alternate energy sources.
What is the road ahead?
There is massive potential for renewable energy, simply because of the sheer size of India, where half the people simply don’t have electricity and 20-25 percent have a problem getting it. When you think about the kind of opportunity there is, you realise that we are talking of about two-thirds of India. Our policies are going in the right direction; we have started a solar mission, a clean technology fund and other incentives. But there is still a lot to be done. It’s quite clear that there is simply a limit to the amount of coal we have, and we have to look at alternatives. There is no doubt about it, renewable energy is the future.