Willingness to Pay for Improved Energy Services Among Rural Households in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria

Understanding rural households' willingness to pay for improved electricity services is fundamental to designing financially sustainable electrification business models, yet empirical willingness-to-pay studies from Nigeria's North Central zone based on robust elicitation methodologies are scarce. This study estimates willingness to pay for different tiers of electricity service among rural households in Plateau State, applying the contingent valuation method and discrete choice experiment approaches to elicit payment preferences. A household survey covering 350 respondents in 14 communities across Jos North, Langtang North, and Shendam local government areas was designed and administered by trained enumerators. Survey instruments presented hypothetical electricity service scenarios varying by daily hours of supply, connection reliability, and payment modality, including prepayment, monthly billing, and pay-per-use. Tobit regression and multinomial logistic regression models were estimated to identify socioeconomic and household energy service predictors of willingness-to-pay levels. Results indicate a mean willingness to pay of 1,850 naira per month for a Tier 3 electricity service providing 8 hours of supply per day with connection to a solar mini-grid. Willingness to pay increases significantly with enterprise ownership, household size, and years of education. Prepayment is the strongly preferred payment modality, cited by 81 percent of respondents. The study provides tariff calibration evidence for mini-grid operators and recommends willingness-to-pay surveys as a standard component of pre-feasibility assessments. Keywords: willingness to pay, rural electrification, Plateau State, contingent valuation, mini-grid tariff.