State-owned KyrgyzEnergo, which owned and operated the electricity and heat production sector, was restructured and unbundled in 2002, spawning seven companies operating in generation, transmission and distribution.

State-owned Joint Stock Company (JSC) Electric Power Plants is the largest electricity generator, and JSC NESK is the state-owned transmission system operator (TSO) that also operates the national dispatch service. The distribution and retail functions of the power sector are still bundled, and distribution system operators (DSOs) are obligated to provide retail services in their territories. There are four electricity DSOs in Kyrgyzstan and one district heating DSO:

• Sever Electro serves Bishkek, Talas and the Chuy region, accounting for 42% of distribution.
• Vostok Electro serves the Issik-Kul and Naryn regions and accounts for 18% of distribution.
• Osh Electro serves the city of Osh and the Osh and Batken regions, and accounts for 26% of distribution.
• Djalal-Abad Electro serves the Djalal-Abad region and accounts for 14% of distribution.
• BishkekTeploSet is the district heating DSO.

All are joint stock companies, owned 83% by the state and 17% by minority shareholders. In January 2016, the Kyrgyz government approved the establishment of Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) National Energy Holding Company (NEHC), and the transfer of state shares in these power and heat companies to the charter capital of the NEHC was approved by both Parliament and government. Additionally, state shares in the 100% government-owned companies JSC Chakan GES and JSC Kyrgyz Electricity Settlement Center (established in 2015) were transferred to the NEHC.

Parliament also resolved that none of the NEHC’s shares may be sold, pledged or exchanged to repay the country’s external debt, and these shares were transferred to trust management. The property of the NEHC therefore cannot be subject to alienation, including indirect forms.

The Law on Electricity provides for third-party access to the network based on relevant licences issued by the Energy Regulator, but in the absence of relevant secondary legislation there are no third parties operating.

OJSC KyrgyzNefteGaz is the sole upstream oil and gas enterprise in Kyrgyzstan. The company also refines oil through its subsidiary Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) Kyrgyz Petroleum in a single refinery in Bishkek.

Gazprom is the owner and operator of the gas transmission and distribution system in Kyrgyzstan through its subsidiary Gazprom Kyrgyzstan. Gazprom purchased the network in December 2013 from KyrgyzGaz for USD 1, taking over USD 38 million of debt and pledging USD 600 million worth of investments to improve Kyrgyzstan’s gas grid over a period of 25 years. Before December 2013, KyrgyzGaz owned and operated the network, with more than 83% in government ownership.

Amendments to the Law on Oil and Gas in October 2012 allow for third-party access.

The coal sector in Kyrgyzstan is managed by KyrgyzKomur, a state-owned enterprise established in 2012 that acts as an umbrella organisation for 23 smaller private coal companies. Seven other companies engage in seasonal coal production during the autumn-winter period. 

None.

The largest HPPs are Toktogul (1 200 MW), Kurpsai (800 MW), Tashkumyr (450 MW), Shamaldysai (240 MW), Uchkurgan (180 MW), Kambarata-2 (120 MW) and At-Bashy (40 MW). 

Hydropower is the main source of renewable energy in Kyrgyzstan; the following small HPPs are operating in the Kyrgyz electricity sector: Alamedin Cascade, operated by OJSC Chakan GES (38.5 MW); Kalininskaya, operated by Limited Liability Company (LLC) Kaliniskaya GES (1.4 MW); Issyk-Atinskaya, operated by JSC Ark (1.4 MW); Naiman, operated by JSC Naiman GES (0.6 MW); Ak-Suu, operated by Maryam Agricultural Cooperative (0.5 MW); Kyrgyz-Ata, operated by OJSC Satellite-2005 (0.2 MW); and newly commissioned Tegermentinskie, operated by LLC Tegermentinskie GES (3 MW). 

There are no companies operating in energy efficiency as of 2019.

In November 2014, the State Agency for Regulation of the Fuel-Energy Sector (the Energy Regulator) was re-established by the government as an autonomous body to ensure independent sector regulation. The Energy Regulator is mandated to undertake economic regulatory functions and perform regulatory oversight in the energy sector, covering electricity, district heating and gas.

Through amendments to key energy sector legislation, tariff reforms were depoliticised in 2014 when the requirement for Parliament to coordinate end-user tariff changes for the power sector was removed. The amendments also created a legal basis for clearly delineated roles and responsibilities in the energy sector, concentrating economic regulatory functions in a single entity, the Energy Regulator. In addition, the government initiated tariff reforms and published a multi-year Midterm Tariff Policy (MTTP) for heating and power envisaging phased and predictable end-user tariff increases for 2014‑17.

In line with the MTTP, the Energy Regulator issued orders enacting electricity, district heating and hot water tariff increases for 2014 and 2015; the next tariff increase was finally introduced and became effective in August 2015. Furthermore, increases in heating and hot water tariffs followed the MTTP’s proposals in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the original MTTP was to reach cost recovery by mid-2017, but it was revised several times and the actual tariffs do not match the original MTTP or the revisions. Large consumers and non-residential users are bearing the weight of the tariff increases.

In March 2020 a new MTTP for electricity and heating and hot water tariffs until 2022 was approved by the government. Under the new MTTP, tariffs for the main consumer groups will remain at 2015 levels. No increases to reach the cost‑recovery level are planned until 2022. The MTTP introduces new categories of electricity consumers (such as electric transport, children’s boarding schools, social institutions for disabled and/or elderly citizens, as well as cryptocurrency companies) and has no plans for tariff increases for these categories.

The heating and hot water tariff for Bishkek will remain at the 2015 level, and tariffs for other end-users are scheduled to reach the cost-recovery level.

Kyrgyzstan’s electricity grid is connected to the Central Asian Power System, but since Turkmenistan’s disconnection from the grid in 2003 – and even more so since Uzbekistan’s disconnection from Tajikistan in 2009 – trade volumes in the system have fallen substantially (Uzbekistan accounted for approximately half of the electricity supplied to the grid). Although trade volumes are much lower, Kyrgyzstan still has cross-border electricity trade with Kazakhstan (export and import), Uzbekistan (export) and Tajikistan (import in small quantities).

Under the framework of the Central Asian Power System, Kyrgyzstan’s hydropower system was designed not only to produce electricity, but to provide major ancillary services, frequency regulation and operating reserves for the regional power system. However, these functions are not fully operational due to the lack of agreement among the neighbouring power systems on pricing mechanisms for such services.

As regional integration is one of its major energy policy directions, Kyrgyzstan supports the reinstatement of the Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Kazakhstan exchange to improve integration and reduce the use of burdensome and inefficient bilateral contracts. During the winter of 2014-15, Kyrgyzstan imported electricity from Kazakhstan to make up potential shortages resulting from the Toktogul Reservoir’s low water level. The 500‑kV Datka-Khodjent transmission line planned under the CASA‑1000 project would connect Kyrgyzstan with Tajikistan to export power to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Gas is imported to Kyrgyzstan via the Central Asian Bukhara-Tashkent-Bishkek-Almaty pipeline. Imports through this pipeline satisfy 92% of the country's gas needs. The remaining 8% is covered from the country’s own reserves.

In 2012, Kyrgyzstan and China agreed to construct part of the 2 000‑km gas pipeline network in Kyrgyzstan. The Central Asia-China pipeline network runs from Turkmenistan to China, and includes Lines A, B and C via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan (first launched in 2009). In May 2014, Kyrgyzstan approved a feasibility study on its section of Line D. Construction of Kyrgyzstan’s share has not yet begun.