In November 2003, the northeastern part of the United States had a sudden power cut at around 4pm one day. The power was restored by 11pm in most of the locations and within a couple days in the rest. A study showed that a mere seven hour power obstruction cost the country an estimated USD 80 billion, which was about 0.70% of the country’s GDP in 2003. If we are to draw a parallel to that scenario, assuming the same loss ratio, a seven-hour power cut here in Nepal would cost us a whopping USD 130 million! Now, in the case of Nepal, where we have an average of 10 to 11 hours of scheduled power cuts on a daily basis, the cost of insufficient electricity to the national economy is beyond fathomable! To look at it differently – just by solving the energy crisis alone, Nepal has the potential to dramatically fuel its GDP growth. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the sole utility in the country, has managed to successfully decrease load-shedding to about seven hours a day recently. Considering the 12+ hours of load-shedding in the winter, we have learned to rejoice the progress the utility has made. While any progress is commendable, what we need to realize is that a seven hour power cut per day in the peak hydro generation season could easily imply a 12+ hour load-shedding schedule again this coming winter when the rivers dry up. Technical losses are among the highest in the world. For a company that has been a monopoly for decades, accruing losses every year and a large gap in the supply-demand could only mean one of the following two things - either the company is in the hands of the wrong management and/or corporate governance is faulty; or it is not in the best interest of the company to actually allow growth and development on the supply side, i.e. the current setup is too lucrative to modify. Perhaps, it is time for us Nepalis to stop singing about the vast 83,000MW energy generation potential that the rivers in Nepal carry. Every year, we hear new promises and interesting stories about how in the next four or five years, the country is going to be load-shedding free, and every year, we see our situation getting worse – relying more and more on imported electricity. Instead of fully relying on the State to deliver the desired level of energy, it would be best to minimize dependency on the national grid and diversify one’s own sources. Solar, wind, and biomass used to be considered alternative sources of energy until recently.