Lighting the future

In Portuguese.

Photographs and videos: Jenifer Veloso

When the Kisêdjê people in Brazil’s Xingu Indigenous Territory first heard about the federal Luz para Todos (Light for All) program, they saw it as an opportunity to bring renewable energy to their village without harming nature.

“I believe in a future where, yes, we use technology, but we continue to live our way, to remain Indigenous,” said Winti Suyá, a leader of the Kisêdjê people. “We continue speaking our language, living our culture, and protecting the forest, the rivers, the water, the fish and the animals that sustain us. We’ll keep nature alive, and that will keep us alive, too.”

Luz para Todos aims to provide universal energy access throughout Brazil, including isolated communities in the Amazon, where an estimated 1 million people currently live without electricity. Access to clean, renewable energy systems can transform lives in the region — improving health care and education, supporting local economies, and amplifying Indigenous voices in decisions about their future and the rainforest.

For the Kisêdjê people in the Khikatxi village, access to solar power systems means fresh fish and game can be safely preserved in refrigerators and freezers, and artisanal work can continue into the evening. But despite these improvements, Luz para Todos initially fell short of its immense potential in the Xingu due to a series of missteps by federal officials and contractors responsible for implementing the program.

Failure to address Indigenous realities hinders progress

Brazil’s largest private energy distributor, Energisa, is responsible for implementing the program in the Xingu region. Energisa staff initially consulted with the Kisêdjê people and promised to implement a mini solar grid that would not only provide electricity, but also meet the high energy demands of multiple families living collectively within single households.

Instead, individual grids were installed behind each home without explanation, raising immediate concerns about fire hazards due to the use of wood and dried palm leaves in construction of the community’s homes.

“The panels don’t reflect our reality,” said Lewayki Suyá, executive director of the Kisêdjê people’s association. “We need energy with greater capacity to serve everyone in one household.”

Moreover, when village members began using the new energy system, they discovered that Energisa had installed equipment configured for 110 volts, instead of the 220-volt standard used throughout the Xingu.

In an attempt to resolve the issue, Energisa informed the Kisêdjê people in August 2024 that the company would provide transformers to address the voltage issue. However, the community has yet to receive adequate transformers.

People living in the village raised additional concerns when households without solar panels began receiving electricity bills for three months of electricity use. The bills were sent without an explanation of the charges or the correct payment method. Several members of the village speak only their native language, and the bills were mailed in Portuguese, with no options for translation.

“No one ever came to explain the cost, how much it would be or how payment would work,” said Winti Suyá. “That’s created a huge social problem. We’re worried our names are being sent to Serasa [the national credit bureau].”

Authorities also denied the community’s request to install solar systems at the health clinic, school and community center, stating that each system must be registered under an individual taxpayer identification number.

Indigenous leaders partner with the Energy and Community Network

Recognizing the injustices, Kisêdjê leaders reached out to Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), a nongovernmental organization that has partnered with Indigenous communities in the Xingu for over 30 years.

ISA and other members of the Energy and Community Network (ECN) — a coalition of civil society organizations working towards just and community-led renewable energy in the Amazon — began organizing a meeting with Indigenous leaders and government officials responsible for the Luz para Todos program.

The ECN was first established in 2019 to ensure that sustainable energy programs reflect the needs and cultural contexts of Indigenous peoples, quilombolas, extractivist communities and other rural groups. Several ECN member organizations, including ISA, are Mott Foundation grantees.

“We at ISA believe that creating these spaces for dialogue can strengthen policy and help ensure that it truly benefits the people of the Amazon,” said Marcelo Martins, environmental engineer. “Because many times, they only feel the negative impacts of large infrastructure projects that are installed here, such as massive hydroelectric plants, roads, and dams, but the benefits go elsewhere, to other regions, and don’t stay here.

“That’s why there needs to be true justice and equity when it comes to energy access and other public policies.”

The Belo Monte Dam, one of the world’s largest hydroelectric projects, serves as a prime example of the imbalance between harms and benefits that can occur when policies fail to prioritize people and the environment.

The dam was completed in 2016 in the Xingu River Basin, which is home to 25,000 Indigenous people from 40 ethnic groups. The dam displaced nearly 40,000 riverine people, including traditional communities and Indigenous people. It reduced water flow to the Xingu River and killed fish species that local communities relied on.  Communities lost ancestral lands, which contributed to deforestation and biodiversity loss.

Furthermore, more than two-thirds of the electricity generated by the Belo Monte Dam is transmitted outside the Amazon and sent to urban and industrial centers in Southeast Brazil, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.

It was with this historical context that ECN members collaborated to plan a five-day meeting in March 2025, held in the village of Khikatxi, to discuss the Luz para Todos program.  The meeting created an open space for meaningful dialogue on how to expand renewable energy in the Xingu in ways that respect the rights and culture of the Kisêdjê people.

Kuyá Iutxi Suyá holds her son.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

Individual solar panels were installed behind homes in the Khikatxi village.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

Wekoi Suyá takes a moment to rest in her hammock inside her home.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

Families living in the Khikatxi village live together within individual homes.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

The Kisêdjê people harvest cassava, a root that is fundamental to their diet.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

Mairutá Kayabi stops for a photo while playing outside.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

Blue and gold Macaws are an essential part of the diverse Amazon biome.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

Lewayki Suyá extracts the edible nut from the thorny pit of the pequi fruit.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

The pequi fruit is an essential part of the Kisêdjê people’s culture.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

Toni Suyá is the pajé, the spiritual leader, of the Kisêdjê people.

Photo: Jenifer Veloso

1/10

Despite its challenges, Luz para Todos remains one of Brazil’s most important national public policy programs for expanding energy access in remote areas. Over the past decade, civil society groups, including members of the ECN, have worked to improve implementation of the program.

Brazil’s national electricity regulatory agency, ANEEL (Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica), is one of the key stakeholders collaborating with ECN members to strengthen the program. The agency regulates and oversees electricity generation, transmission and distribution nationwide to ensure policies are effective and equitable.

“One of the most powerful things we’ve experienced here [at this meeting] is the importance of listening to people before implementing a policy,” said Camila Lopes, an advisor to the board of directors of ANEEL. “The way to build these policies is much more important than simply giving access to energy.”

Lighting the way to an equitable, sustainable future

Ultimately, the five-day meeting culminated in the creation of the Letter of the Xingu Indigenous Peoples on the Luz para Todos program. The document outlines concerns, experiences and recommendations for implementing Luz para Todos within Indigenous territories. Representatives from ECN, Energisa, ANEEL and other government agencies signed the letter, promising to ensure the Kisêdjê people’s involvement in planning, implementing and maintaining the solar energy system within their village.

The success of Luz para Todos extends beyond guaranteeing access to energy. It is foundational in protecting the lives of people living within the Amazon. The expansion of renewable energy access beyond the household will help communities stay on their lands, work sustainably, and contribute to the protection and preservation of the Amazon’s biome.

“Right now, our territory is under threat,” said Lewayki Suyá. “There’s a real danger that these things won’t exist in the future. So, we fight to leave our forests, our rivers, and our territory intact — for future generations to live in peace, in their own territory, with their culture preserved and their land demarcated. That’s one of the fights we carry forward, and we will never stop fighting.”