Nepal electricity tariff may increase by 20%: officials

Nepal is prepared to hike the retail electricity tariff by an average of 20 percent by mid-July.

Electricity Tariff Fixing Commission officials said they may require the Nepal Electricity Authority to reduce leakage by 4 percent and improve internal governance in exchange for allowing it to increase the rates.

The issue of revising the electricity tariff has been pending for over 11 years, and has been a matter of dispute in the hydropower industry.

“We've finalized the details and are likely to take a decision to make the new tariff rates effective from the beginning of the next fiscal year,” said Ganesh Pd Subba at a program on electricity tariffs organized by the Hydropower Association of Nepal and Niti Foundation.

Minister Designate and former Minister of Energy Bahadur Bogati said the ETFC has formed a revised tariff structure after a series of consultations with the ministry, and it would be announced soon. “The new tariff structure will be announced soon, and I assure full support for its implementation from my side,” said Bogati.

Some ETFC members, however, cautioned that it would be disastrous if the tariff was hiked without holding anybody accountable for a number of crucial reforms within the NEA. The NEA has been without a minister designate for months now, and hiking the tariff will not be justified without first determining who will be accountable for reforms, said ETFC member and joint secretary at the Energy Ministry Arjun Karki.

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