Minister for Power, Sardar Awais Leghari, announced on Thursday that the government is enforcing revenue-based power load shedding in regions with high financial losses to manage economic deficits. During a joint press conference with Minister of State for Finance, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Leghari stated that this load shedding strategy will persist until the losses in these areas are significantly reduced, after which uninterrupted 24-hour electricity supply will be restored.
Leghari emphasized that allowing continuous power supply in high-loss areas would exacerbate the circular debt issue. Therefore, action will be taken in these regions to mitigate financial losses.
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Despite the ample generation capacity projected for the next four summer months, with 7,000 MW sourced from hydel power, Leghari acknowledged that power distribution companies (Discos) had incompetently enforced load shedding even in areas with minimal losses. He directed Discos to enhance their performance and reduce load-shedding durations.
Leghari revealed a current national shortfall of 4232MW, attributing load shedding to high-loss feeders, technical issues, and electricity theft. He assured that the system is undergoing gradual improvements through the ‘Roshan Pakistan’ programme to address these challenges.
The minister outlined the presence of 150 loss-making feeders in Punjab, 700 in Sindh, 350 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 80 in Balochistan, all slated for overhaul. He also mentioned forthcoming reforms, including new boards for Discos, to tackle faults within the power distribution sector.
Additionally, a high-level committee, including ministers from Finance, Defence, and Petroleum, is investigating allegations related to ‘imported coal’ procurement. The government is also reviewing its net metering policy, seeking stakeholder input for future adjustments.
Ali Pervaiz Malik noted the concern of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President PML(N) Nawaz Sharif regarding load shedding and emphasized the need for public cooperation to resolve technical and workforce constraints hindering power supply improvements.
