Kathmandu, 18 Aug: Nepal Electricity Authority’s profit has decreased. In the last fiscal year 2081/82, the profit of the Authority decreased by 37.32 percent compared to the previous fiscal year. According to the financial statements made public at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Authority, the Authority earned a net profit before tax of Rs. 9.6 billion in the last fiscal year. Such profit was Rs. 14.46 billion in the fiscal year 2080/81.
The increase in the operating expenses of the authority, the impact of foreign exchange and the accumulation of funds in the risk fund have led to a decrease in profit, said Hitendra Dev Shakya, executive director of the authority. According to the financial statement, the net operating expenses have increased by Rs 2.1 billion in a year.
Similarly, the report mentions that an additional expenditure of Rs 2.25 billion was added due to the change in exchange rates alone. According to Shakya, the profit also decreased due to the allocation of Rs 5 billion for risk fund (provisioning) in the last fiscal year. Although the total business increased by 8.4 percent to Rs 125 billion, the overall profit of the NEA decreased by Rs 5.39 billion compared to the previous fiscal year .
The decline in the price of electricity sales also appears to have played a role in the decline in the profit of the NEA. In the previous fiscal year, the average price per unit was nine rupees 48 paise, but in the last fiscal year it was nine rupees 13 paise. Although the price of electricity exported to India within Nepal and as per the medium-term agreement remained stable, the impact of the decline in the bidding price on the Indian Energy Exchange has had an impact on this price. A total of 2,380 gigawatt-hours of electricity was sold to India in the last fiscal year. This is an increase of 22.33 percent compared to the previous fiscal year.
According to the information provided by Shakya, the national grid has reached 98 percent of the territory, while the annual per capita energy consumption has increased from 420 units to 465. Electricity leakage has also decreased by 0.47 percentage points to 12.26.
Unveiling the NEA’s one-year achievements, Shakya said that a total of 434 megawatts of electricity generation has been added in the last year, while 253 circuit kilometers of transmission lines have been added, taking the total to 6,760 circuit kilometers. The capacity of transmission substations has been increased by 1,073 MVA, taking the total to 14,123 MVA.
Quality and debt collection in debate
Addressing the NEA’s anniversary celebration, NEA Chairman and Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Deepak Khadka emphasized the need to transform the Nepal Electricity Authority into an organization that can provide 24-hour uninterrupted, safe and reliable power supply. He stated that safe, quality and reliable power flow is the main need of the hour and directed the NEA to minimize power leakage through the use of smart technology.
Most of the speakers at the program raised questions about the quality of electricity supply and arrears of the NEA, drawing the serious attention of the minister and the executive director. Addressing the gathering, National Planning Commission member RP Bichha urged the NEA management to be sensitive to this, saying that electricity supply is not regular and of good quality even in the capital.
Minister Khadka had expressed his anger at the authority management and employees, saying that the collection of dedicated and trunk line fees has been a mess for a decade. “The government is now seriously working to resolve this problem, but why did the authority not speak out on this issue for a decade?” he asked, “The customer says that you sent a letter asking for the fee instead of sending the bill based on the TOD meter. You know what happened.”
Minister Khadka also alleged that the ministry had formed an investigation committee to resolve the problem, but the committee was dismissed due to the non-cooperation of the NRA and misleading the court. “Now, employees are not even allowed to sit on the review committee,” he said, “Why are they hesitant to work in the interest of the NRA after receiving the salary, services and facilities from the NRA?”
He directed that the dues of dedicated and trunk lines be immediately collected and that there be no delay in collecting the electricity bills used.
Trade union officials of the Authority protested at the program, saying that instead of collecting around 40 billion rupees in premium fees for dedicated and trunk lines, street lights, and the discounts provided by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Authority management had sought a loan of 10 billion rupees from the government.
National Employees Union President Rameshwor Poudel alleged that the minister had stopped the disconnection of lines of industries that did not pay the toll, but there was no recovery, and claimed that the authority would recover the toll if it were able to disconnect the lines of such customers.
‘Private sector is being exploited’
At the program, Mohan Kumar Dangi, Senior Vice President of Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN), urged the Nepal Electricity Authority not to show bravery by embarrassing the private sector.
He said that only efforts are being made to discourage the private sector from joining the project. He said, “It seems that the focus of the Electricity Authority is on how to stop electricity generation, how to do PPAs, how not to extend the RCOD deadline, how not to take the electricity generated, how to maintain contingency and overall how to show bravery by encouraging energy entrepreneurs. This mindset needs to change.”
Dangi also requested Energy Minister Khadka to create history like the late Shailaja Acharya by granting licenses for electricity trading and transmission line construction to the private sector.
Minister Khadka clarified that the private sector has been actively involved in the construction of transmission lines along with electricity generation and will also be involved in the sale of electricity in the coming days. Accordingly, the government is engaged in policy-level management and operational facilitation, he said, “The government stands with the private sector.”
