Abstract :
The provision of energy in rural households and communities has several implication and uses.
The field experience drawn in this paper shows the efforts and approaches employed to make the
optimum use of the electric energy through enterprise creation. If rural electrification is left to
grow without any directional inputs, experience has shown that, beyond obvious use for lighting,
radios and basic home-appliances, uses which might bring economic development to an area, are
slow to emerge. To be of development benefit to an area, electricity should be employed in
enterprises which employ local people, and add value to local resources.However, contrary to the
conventional ideology, the empirical observation from this field experience in one of the hill
districts of Nepal demonstrates the positive effect of a rural-electrification programme with
various innovative approaches, practical tariff policies and varieties of motivational and
entrepreneurship development mechanisms. These strategic approaches with supportive institutional
mechanisms have proven conducive for fostering the growth of local enterprises, thus
creating employment and resource harnessing. Complementary service mechanisms and policy
coordination is a necessary precondition for an effective use of power in the rural community
rather than the rhetoric policy of rural electrification in isolation. Electrification in
isolation, without any promotional or supportive mechanisms, still creates pitfalls.
