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$10,000 - that's the price Pyi Rar and her fellow villagers were told to pay

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if they wanted electricity in their small community

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in Eastern Myanmar's Kaya state.

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She used her local money lender to raise her $80 share

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- a huge amount in this impoverished region.

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But ten months later there's still no power

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and authorities say villagers have to come up 
with more cash if they want to get connected.

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If we had electricity, we could cook and 
use computers and the children could study.

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I attended a computer class, but I can't
practice at home without power.

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Only 30% of Myanmar's 51 million 
people had access to electricity.

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Even major cities see regular power cuts
which have ignited frustration and protests.

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The government says it wants everyone 
to have electricity by the year 2030.

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If you look at many parts of urban areas, 
actually the rate would go as high as 75%.

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But, then, for the average to be 30%

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you need to indeed consider that in many 
rural areas this could be extremely low.

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For those in rural and ethnic minority areas
power projects have long been associated

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with land loss and conflict, not electricity.

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Hydropower already provides most
of the energy in Myanmar.