Rajiv Shah on Advancing Universal Abundant Energy Access

Apr 14, 2026

Rajiv Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation and former USAID administrator, explains why universal, productive energy access matters for growth and opportunity. He discusses the new high-level panel, financing challenges and transfer solutions, technology choices from distributed renewables to gas, and how pragmatic, analytic policy can reconcile access, reliability, and climate goals.

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ANECDOTE

Rooftop Solar Transformed A Women's Flour Mill

Rajiv Shah recounts a Uttar Pradesh women's cooperative whose income rose tenfold after rooftop solar and batteries enabled 24/7 milling.
Income jumped from 800 to 8,000 rupees, empowered women socially, and allowed girls to attend school.

INSIGHT

Electricity Is Only Part Of Energy Demand

Electricity is only ~20% of final energy; transport, industry, and cooking dominate and are harder to electrify.
Achieving true abundance requires addressing oil, gas, industrial loads and clean cooking fuels, not just power.

ADVICE

Build Math Driven Roadmaps Not Ideological Mandates

Produce a practical roadmap and country playbooks that prioritize math, cost, and reliability over ideology to achieve universal energy abundance.
Use policy, technology, and cooperation to scale solutions proven in Rockefeller's Global Energy Alliance.

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Energy abundance means different things in today's global context than it did even a decade ago. It is about expanding electricity access while meeting rising energy demand. It is about navigating geopolitical fragmentation, limited government support, shifting development priorities, and leveraging new technologies to deliver reliable power at scale.

But the challenge is not just technological. It is institutional and financial. Many low- and middle-income countries face high capital costs, limited access to financing, and policy frameworks that struggle to keep pace with growing demand.

Solving this challenge is a priority for both the Center on Global Energy Policy and the Rockefeller Foundation, which together have launched a new high-level panel to advance universal energy abundance. This initiative positions reliable, affordable energy as a cornerstone of economic growth, industrialization, and opportunity in emerging and developing economies.

So what does it take to move from energy scarcity and toward energy abundance? Can international institutions, governments, and investors come together to mobilize the scale of investment required? And how can emerging economies balance the urgency of expanding energy access with the need for affordability, reliability, and sustainability?

Today on the show, Jason Bordoff speaks with Rajiv Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation, about the high-level panel on universal energy abundance and its goals.

Rajiv leads The Rockefeller Foundation's mission to promote the well-being of humanity by ending energy poverty for more than a billion people, ensuring universal access to food, and strengthening health systems. During the Obama administration, he led the US Agency for International Development as its administrator. He also served on the National Security Council, where he elevated the role of development as part of a bipartisan foreign policy. Earlier in his career, Rajiv developed programs to address climate change and global food security at the US Department of Agriculture and held leadership roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, Alice Manos, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Gregory Vilfranc.