Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Private companies can now trade and transport electricity independently after the government decided to open access to the national transmission grid to third parties.
The Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Thursday announced wheeling charges for third parties using the national transmission grid.
According to ERC Chairperson Ram Prasad Dhital, a wheeling charge of Rs 413,000 per MW per month has been fixed for medium- and long-term open access to the national transmission grid of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) for fiscal year 2026/27.
The charge has been set at 57 paisa per kilowatt-hour for short-term open access.
With wheeling charges fixed, private companies, independent power producers and large industrial buyers can now use the transport grid to transport electricity. Although the private sector was allowed to generate electricity, only the NEA was allowed to be involved in power trading so far.
“The charges were determined as per the Transmission Charge Calculation Standard for the National Electricity Transmission Grid, 2026,” Dhital said. “The decision to fix wheeling charge will allow third parties, including private-sector companies, to use the transmission system under an open electricity market policy.”
The ERC fixed the wheeling charges based on the audited financial statements of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) for fiscal year 2024/25 and the state-owned utility’s estimated annual revenue requirements for fiscal years 2025/26 and 2026/27.
“Third parties and private-sector entities using transmission and distribution lines to exchange electricity will have to pay the wheeling charge to the NEA at the rates and under the standards prescribed by the ERC,” Dhital said.
According to the ERC, the standard, which came into effect on September 17, was issued under Section 13 of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, 2017 and Rule 13 of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Rules, 2018. It provides the methodology for calculating transmission charges and determining the annual revenue requirement.
The ERC can determine charges based on either the contracted capacity, measured per MW, or the volume of energy transmitted, measured per kWh, depending on the capacity and energy flow of the transmission system.
