The largely government owned electricity sector in Haiti referred to as Électricité d'Haïti (ED'H for "Haiti Electric Utility", faced a deep crisis characterized by dramatic shortages and the lowest coverage of electricity in the Western Hemisphere in 2006. with only about 38.5% of the population having regular access to electricity. In addition, Haiti's large share of thermal generation (70%) makes the country especially vulnerable to rising and unstable oil prices.