Energy access targets at national, sub-national, and local levels, are often not specified in great detail e
and tend to focus on supply. Another approach to better inform policy and investment might benefit
from an indicator that focuses on the services derived from electricity access. To provide support for
decision-making, this research investigates the costs of reaching different levels of energy access in rural
areas, with a case study of a village in the Ainaro district of Timor Leste. Utilizing the multi-tier definition
of energy access proposed in the World Bank's “Global Tracking Framework” for Sustainable Energy for
All, we present results both on the cost difference of achieving different tiers of energy access, and on the
comparison among selected electrification and cooking options. Results show that in the period 2010
e2030 achieving the highest tier of electricity access could be as much as seventy-five times more costly
than achieving the lowest one. In addition moving across tiers, least cost solutions shift from stand-alone
to mini-grid and finally grid connected options as electricity access increases. Regarding cooking, moving
from open fires to some of the more modern solutions has the potential to reduce overall costs over the
same period.