Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 25:

Prof Bishwambher Pyakuryal, chairman of the High Level Public Expenditure Commission (HLPEC) and member of Electricity Tariff Fixation Commission (ETFC) under the ministry of finance, left for USA today to attend an executive business meeting being held there to discuss electricity regulation issues. According to a press statement issued by Nepal Economic Association (NEA), the meeting is to be attended by experts in Washington DC, Ohio and Utah. The meetings will be held over two weeks from March 26 to April 8, 2005. The meeting will discuss the potential of establishing a regulatory partnership between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of US and Electricity Fixation Commission (ETFC) and Department of Electricity Development (DOED), said the press statement.

Various meetings are scheduled in Washington DC, Ohio and Utah that will address setting up a tariff design and energy market monitoring, organisational structure of DOED and ETFC and strengthening the capacity of the same in formulating and embarking on it’s future restructuring plans, as per Nepal’s new hydropower policy. This meeting will also pave the way for establishing an autonomous Electricity Tariff Regulatory Commission (ETRC) in Nepal, says the statement.