Electricity is a vital factor underlying modern living standards, but there is relatively little systematic evidence on what contributes to electricity sector development. This paper finds that institutions are important for increasing electricity use in developing countries. In particular, the effectiveness of institutions is crucial, as opposed to other governance attributes. Other important variables for electricity development include gross domestic product, temperature, proportions of populations in rural areas, and natural resources such as natural gas reserves. I use a cross-sectional regression approach with national-level data up to 2012 for 135 countries that are classified as low-income or middle-income by the World Bank.