KATHMANDU Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has said the government shall bring a clear policy of increasing the power consumption within the country itself first.

Addressing the Fourth Anniversary function of the Electricity Regulation Commission here today, he said domestic power consumption capacity would be enhanced. “First we give priority to fulfilling the domestic demand and we will move ahead in a planned manner for scaling up the power consumption for domestic purposes, industrial sector, and transport sector,” Minister Basnet added.

Stating that the government has a policy of carrying out electrification in cent percent sectors, he said the cooperation of the public, private, and community sectors is necessary to that end.

The Energy Minister also shared on the occasion that preparations were on for tabling the Electricity Bill in the Federal Parliament for making the power sector systematized. He added that the bill incorporated topics like increased production and making arrangements for infrastructures for trade and distribution.

Director General at the Department of Electricity Development Chiranjivi Chataut spoke on the significant role of the energy sector in Nepal’s economic prosperity and suggested the regulatory body strengthen its role.

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) executive director Kulman Ghising called on the Commission to pay attention to the regulation of the energy sector in the country.

Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN) president Krishna Prasad Sharma called for permitting the private sector to carry out power trade to fulfill the vision- Nepal’s Water, Fountain of Prosperity.

Commission’s Chair Dilli Bahadur Singh informed that the Commission has prepared a dozen of tools for regulating the energy sector and it was in the process of developing more such required tools. He added that the Commission is playing a positive role in resolving the dispute between the running projects and the NEA.

The Commission was established in 2076 BS for ensuring smooth, regular, well-managed, and transparent production, transmission, distribution, and trade of power, to maintain a balance between the demand and supply of power, for regulating the electricity tariff, and for protecting the consumer interests.