The Nepal Electricity Authority, already under severe budgetary pressure due to bills yet to be paid for power purchases from private producers, has seen an eight percent increase in \'leakage'. The leakage has now reached 24.8 percent, which equals the power generated by the country's biggest producer, the 144-MW Kali Gandaki project. Half the leakage is stolen power while the rest is due to loss from the system during transmission. This costs the NEA 650 million units (653 Gwh) annually, with a price-tag per unit of Rs 6.81. The Electricity Price Commission last year instructed NEA to reduce its leakage by three percent. Instead it has increased. NEA's distribution and customer service office says that's because electricity meters can't be monitored and billed in many rural and suburban areas because of security reasons.