This publication describes and assesses the technical and organizational innovations introduced by the Butwal Power Company of Nepal to reduce the cost of, and increase the benefits obtainable from, electrifying rural subsistence communities.

Considerable criticism has been leveled at the high cost commonly associated with extending the grid into rural areas. While some of this is well-founded, high costs are not intrinsic to grid extension. This publication describes a grid-extension project where project cost was less than $150 per household and where quality three-phase lines were built over hilly terrain for under $4,000 per kilometer.

Some areas covered in this publication are as follows:

• a new distribution voltage to considerably reduce the weight and bulk of transformers which have to be carried over mountain trails;

• a design for distribution poles which can easily be carried by porters to isolated communities;

• ready-made wiring harnesses to increase safety and reduce the initial cost to consumers;

• new low-wattage cooker designs to permit using electricity to displace fuelwood while INCREASING the load factor on the system;

• reliance on electricity users' organizations to shoulder the burden of operating rural systems;

• the use of motivators to encourage maximum consumer connections and benefits; and

• a power-based tariff and use of current cutouts to reduce the administrative cost of electrification and encourage high load factors.

This publication is available for $20 including postage and handling from:

International Programs Division

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association

4301 Wilson Boulevard

Arlington, VA 22203-1860

(Revised June 21, 1997)