The issue of energy access for the poor is gaining momentum globally. This collection of papers by early-career researchers draws on in-depth field research in Latin America, Asia and Africa to explore the challenges of delivering access to modern energy services. The chapters document the ongoing inequities of energy landscapes across a range of geographies, scales and political economic contexts. The authors draw attention to the need to take local people's needs and livelihood aspirations into account in efforts to address the ‘energy trilemma’. Highlighting the complexity and multiple dimensions of energy equity, the authors demonstrate the difficulties of disentangling energy poverty from the two other elements of the trilemma – climate change and energy security.