Who powers the off-grid city? Non-state actors, ethics, and the politics of solar infrastructure in Cape Town's informal settlements

Informal settlements are often sites where state engagement in service provision is minimal or absent. To address chronic energy poverty in these neighborhoods, a diverse range of non-state actors (including NGOs, donor agencies, research institutions, and others) actively develop and operate decentralized solar energy interventions. This paper examines two such interventions in Cape Town, South Africa, using a heterogeneous infrastructure configurations (HICs) lens to explore how infrastructure, citizenship, and state responsibility are co-constituted in informality. We situate these examples within theoretical debates around the interlinkages between informality and infrastructure, asking how the perceived role of the state shifts when non-state actors provide services that are formally the state's responsibility. Our comparative analysis identifies three critical dimensions shaping these interventions: the evolving role of the state in complex stakeholder frameworks; the responsibilities and expectations placed on residents; and the ethical and political implications of non-state infrastructure delivery. We show how solar interventions can offer immediate and often innovative responses to infrastructural deficits, but also produce ambiguous governance outcomes, sometimes reinforcing the state's retreat rather than enabling its re-engagement. Furthermore, we reflect critically on the role of research institutions in these interventions, examining their influence on local power dynamics and long-term service delivery sustainability. We argue for a rethinking of energy governance in informal settlements that foregrounds inclusive planning, ethical engagement, and the state's enduring responsibility, even within hybrid or experimental delivery models. • Many alternative infrastructure service delivery models have been tried in informal areas with little/no state involvement • Alternative electricity service delivery models tend to foster community engagement, but the state may be needed to scale up • Long-term maintenance is a risk in both alternative service delivery models we study, which state-based actors could reduce • The government status quo is a major barrier to including a role for the state in alternative service delivery models • Research implementing alternative service delivery in informal settlements raises ethical dilemmas