The
unbundling of NEA has started. But it is now facing a problem from its employees.
The formation of National Transmission Grid Company (NTGC) which is planned to
sort out the entire problem in transmission line is not getting support.
NEA
has shown unwillingness to join the NTGC’s board. The demands of NEA are:-
1)
Evaluate assets of all transmission line projects.
2)
Remove the clause “Employees of NTGC by law cannot form any kind of trade union”
My understanding
Although
the unbundling of NEA will separate Generation, Transmission and Distribution,
the staffs will be the same (of course they may hire additional staffs, if
necessary). When there is a strict provision regarding the formation of trade
unions, then it is obvious that these employees will resist such changes.
At
the same time, we should not forget that the whole idea for the separation is
due to the fact that NEA was not able to perform its duty in the past. Such
situation was largely due to the overload of work and NEA’s militant trade
union. No can deny this fact.
There
will be no significant differences in the performance if we allow forming trade
unions. The best solution to address this problem is by bringing incentive plans
for the employees.
Unbundling
I
am not clear how unbundling works. Unbundling is also new for me. As far as I
remember, USAID will be assisting for unbundling of NEA. I am pretty sure that
they have the expertise.
More than that
I
have explained the reason for unbundling of NEA last year Unbundling of NEA is necessary . However, I forgot to
mention an important part. There is a bottleneck we have to understand when it
comes to the expansion/development of transmission lines.
Lack
of coordination between Department of Electricity Development (DOED) and NEA is
also a main hurdle.
DOED
is responsible for issuing hydropower license and it does so in “first come
first basis” As such, hydropower developers are awarded license wherever they
apply. Also, they are demanding NEA to construct the transmission lines. This
is where problem lies.
Without
proper study regarding the current and future demand of the area, how can
anybody construct the transmission lines? Is it fair to construct the
transmission line just because few developers have hydro license in that area? Focusing
to please the hydro developers may also result in low network utilization.
There
should be a proper study by encompassing the demographic, the current demand
and future demand (current demand, long-term demand and medium term demand). I
guess, this is the right way to move forward. We should not always focus on immediate
need.
Also please
explain
I
have been reading the news about the inclusion of private sector in the transmission
lines. How does this work? I am completely unaware of this. I guess the revenue
source will be the wheeling charges. But how is it charged? Will it be on the
basis of capacity booked or the length of the transmission lines that one has
used for the evacuation? Any expert reading this blog is requested to share
his/her ideas.
I really appreciate that you point out the need of synchronization between license issuance from DOED and construction of transmission line by NEA. It is, indeed, the responsibility of DOED, to analyze whether it is feasible for NEA to go for transmission line for the interest of handful of developers.
ReplyDeleteBoth the organizations are government owned bodies but lack of coordination between these two is something that we are facing from the beginning. Also, we never had a culture of doing research beforehand. Be it politics or electricity, it is pretty same. We deal with situations in an ad hoc basis.
DeleteFrom your post and other post, I understand, after unbundlng the team working under the transmission line department will work for the new formlated transmission company under more or less same procedures, rules and regulations. I am wondering, under such condition, how the political interference, unplanned development, cost and time overrun can be avoided. I would be happy to get your view about it.
ReplyDeleteAn Interesting fact said by a senior hydropower expert "जलविद्युतले देशको कायापलट गर्छ भनेर पहिलो चोटी सुन्दा म १० बर्षको थे ! आज म ६३" Nothing is going to happen without changing the mindsets of our politicians. A bitter truth
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