Why There is Load Shedding in Pakistan, Explained
A resident of New Darband tehsil of Mansehra district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shahnawaz Badr bought a deep freezer before taking the sacrificial animal this Eid to preserve the meat in this scorching hot weather. Shahnawaz told BBC News that he did take the sacrificial meat to the deep freeze, but it did not benefit him. According to him, ‘meat could not be preserved due to long load shedding and then very low voltage electricity.’
Shahnawaz is not the only person affected by this prolonged load shedding in Pakistan.
Most of the regions of Pakistan are in the grip of intense heat, the sudden increase in load shedding of electricity in this intensity of heat has made the people more worried. This increase is most visible in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is currently in power.
Even during the Eid holidays, the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were seen protesting on the streets in several areas. When it comes to public representatives, sometimes Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur himself reaches the on-off button inside the grid station and gives a stern message to the federation, and sometimes the provincial ministers and assembly members visit the streets to restore electricity. Come and take over the electricity ie the ‘distribution and transmission’ system itself?
Before knowing the position of Federal Energy Minister Owais Leghari and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur, first, understand whether load shedding is more in some areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or the situation is the same in the entire province and if in some areas If there is more, what is the reason?
It is also important to know that this is a new thing, that the same thing was happening in the past periods, that is, is it not happening on political grounds?
Is there more load shedding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or some areas of the province?
There are some areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) faces fewer losses and residents pay their electricity bills regularly.
Load shedding is relatively less in these areas, but there are areas where there are more losses and losses such as power theft and line losses, in such cases, the company responsible for supplying electricity in the province should increase the period of load shedding. And so the people who pay bills regularly in these areas also get ‘pissed in the mill’ of this revenge in hot weather.
Their houses remain in darkness for 22 hours and said that they pay the bill for 24 hours but electricity is given to them only for two hours.
Load-shedding periods are high in rural areas of the province such as Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, tribal areas, Bada Bir, Matni, Kohat, Hangu, and Karak.
According to a PESCO official, there is also a problem of public order in the tribal areas including Dera Ismail Khan and the southern districts of the province. Officials of WAPDA and other related departments in these areas cannot even turn around after evening.
Spokesman Pesco says that the duration of load shedding in urban areas is four to six hours, while load shedding is being done for 16 hours in suburban areas. According to the spokesman, losses due to electricity theft and non-payment of dues are high and more load management on such feeders is inevitable.
According to PESCO officials, there are more than 1300 feeders of PESCO in the province, out of which 156 feeders are being shed for two hours only.
According to officials, there are 20 to 30 percent losses on 135 feeders, where six-hour load shedding is being done, while there are 96 feeders, where losses are 30 to 40 percent and seven-hour load shedding is being done there.
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According to PESCO, 143 feeders have losses ranging from 40 to 60 percent and there is a load shedding of 12 hours while 157 feeders have losses of 60 to 80 percent and a load shedding period is 16 hours. According to the officials, the losses on 159 feeders are more than 80% due to which 20 hours of load shedding are going on.
The problem of load shedding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is political or technical?
The latest report of Nepra is for the year 2022-23. According to this report, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is ahead of all other provinces in terms of losses. This means that electricity theft is also more common in this province and there are more defaulters i.e. people who do not pay electricity bills.
According to this annual report, Pesco i.e. Peshawar Electric Supply Company has to face losses of 77 billion annually which is the highest compared to other provinces. According to this report, as far as the recovery of electricity bills is concerned, the company recovers seven percent less than its target, resulting in a loss of Rs 24 billion.
In its report, NEPRA has also clearly written that power distribution and transmission companies (DISCOs) are reluctant to take necessary steps to reduce losses and solve other technical problems. The report blames not the consumers but the companies concerned for not improving the system.
Federal Energy Minister Owais Ahmed Laghari told BBC News that his ministry is now taking steps in this regard and improving the system. New boards are being formed and qualified persons are being made part of these boards on a non-political basis.
According to Owais Leghari, the policy of the government is very clear that where there is theft of electricity, there will be load shedding. According to him, electricity is being stolen not only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but in the whole country and in the areas where these losses are high, load shedding is also done more.
Does the government have unlimited power of load shedding?
According to the law of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), the power distribution and transmission companies to the common man do not have any legal powers of load shedding in compensation for losses. Yet if these companies do so, then NEPRA regularly imposes fines on them. This was confirmed by the government itself and the officials of Nepra.
Peshawar-based journalist Manzoor Ali and senior journalist Saifur Rehman, who covers the Ministry of Energy in Islamabad, told the BBC that Nepra instructs power distribution companies, known as ‘discos’, to make such arrangements. and take legal measures to ensure recoveries and improve systems such as line losses.
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A few days ago, Chairman Nepra explained to a question of Saifur Rehman that the power distribution companies do not have the legal authority to carry out load shedding based on losses.
When the journalist asked the same question Federal Energy Minister Owais Leghari, he said that unfortunately, the government has no other option to reduce the burden of revolving loans.
However according to Chairman Nepra, if the government has considered load-shedding as the only solution instead of losses, then the law of Nepra has to be changed for this, otherwise, such measures are not allowed at all.
A senior NEPRA official told BBC that this is an operational and policy issue and the load-shedding policy has been followed for the last six to seven years under the same formula, meaning it is not the first time.
When asked about Nepra’s response to load shedding, he said, “Only the concerned ministry can give a better answer.”
The BBC approached Nepra about not exercising its powers as a regulator, but Nepra has not commented.
When BBC News asked the same question to Federal Energy Minister Owais Leghari, he said that the government is going to change the NEPRA law soon.
According to him, four new boards are being formed, in which experts are being added on a non-political basis. He further said the current load-shedding policy has been approved by the Council of Common Interests.
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Last day, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin while addressing a press conference on June 19 (Wednesday) said, “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa owes 1600 billion rupees to the federal government for electricity. Which is approved by the Council of Common Interests, but the federal government is not paying dues.
On BBC’s question, the Minister of Energy said that unless the losses are eliminated and the federal government is facing losses up to 600 billion rupees and electricity theft is not stopped, then from where will the dues be paid?
Is it a political conflict?
Federal Energy Minister Owais Leghari says that this is not a political issue. He said that “the way important people in the ‘governance structure’ go against the law and do so, then they are setting a bad example.”
The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking notice of the load shedding during the Eid holidays, issued a notification to the administrations of all the districts in the province to ensure that they are in touch with the electricity distribution companies in their respective areas. That there should be no unscheduled load shedding anywhere in the province and if any technical problem occurs, it should be resolved as soon as possible. He also gave instructions that the duration of load shedding should not exceed 12 hours anywhere in the province.
He said that the federal government’s promise to reduce load shedding from 22 hours to 18 hours has not been fulfilled. The Chief Minister said that ‘we had given a deadline of 15 days to the federation to settle the issues and the federation had asked for one and a half months and cooperation and we provided full cooperation.’
The Chief Minister said, “I declare that there will be no load shedding for more than 12 hours on any feeder in the province and all parliamentarians should ensure this by monitoring the schedule in their respective areas.”
Federal Minister Owais Laghari also wrote a letter to the Interior Minister to file an FIR against the people who attacked the grid station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the contents of the letter, MNAs, and MPs were leading the climbers at the grid stations.
Ali Amin Gandapur said in his press conference “I have given clear orders to the IG of Police that an FIR will not be registered against any citizen of the province at the behest of WAPDA officials.”
He said that this is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police and it is not under WAPDA.
Chief Minister Ali Amin added in his address I want to tell Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that you called me and asked for support regarding the IMF, I want the money of the province first which you have to give. Otherwise, I will tell the IMF that you take money in our name, tax us, and fill your own pockets.
Chief Minister Ali Amin said that we have discussed with the federal government to resolve all outstanding issues related to WAPDA. We have provided full support to resolve the issue of line losses.
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According to him, we have allocated 10 billion rupees to provide solar systems to people in areas where there are many losses.
He said that the federal government has stolen the mandate and is sitting in the government based on lies and this government has not fulfilled its commitment.
“Now when the time of one and a half months is over, I texted and called Federal Minister of Energy Owais Laghari, but he did not respond, which means that he is free and we are free.”
The Chief Minister said, “I tell all my parliamentarians and party officials that now they will follow my policy as the representative of all.”
During the Eid holidays, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin reached Gandapur Dera Ismail Khan grid station and issued a new load-shedding schedule.
However, the Chief Minister mentioned incidents like May 9 and told his workers that “I am giving a message to my people that no one should damage the assets of WAPDA.” They are our assets because they are made of our tax money.
According to journalist Manzoor Ali, there is always a feeling in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that they say that electricity is bought from us cheaply and then sold at high prices and we have not been paid the dues of the past period.
According to him, the provincial government had also promised to go to the rural areas and convince the people to install meters and pay their arrears for two years in installments. According to him, even this promise of the provincial government has not been fulfilled.
According to Manzoor Ali, the provincial government is giving political color to this matter.
According to him, a member of the Provincial Assembly from Peshawar comes out on the streets in every round due to the problem of electricity. Fight WAPDA, and take control of the grid itself. According to him, there is a lot of pressure on the Chief Minister from within Tehreek-e-Insaaf, after which he goes to the public and makes such a statement.
Load shedding is not happening in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The BBC spoke in detail to Tahir Basharat Cheema, an energy expert and former MD of PEPCO, and Chairman of the first Energy Management Board in Pakistan.
He says that at present the revenue-based formula is not happening in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to this formula, where there is theft of electricity and there is a large number of non-payers, then less electricity will be provided there.
According to him, the same is happening in the entire country. He would say that K Electric was the first to introduce this formula in Karachi. K Electric is also responsible for the transmission of electricity in four cities of Balochistan including Karachi, Hub, Bela, Uthal, and Windar.
Now the question arises whether load-shedding in this way is a correct practice.
Tahir Basharat Cheema says this should not happen. According to him, if a man is also following the law, why is he being punished for the mistakes of others? They say that this should be done for a short time and during this period awareness should be created among the people. However, according to him, this work belongs to the government.
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According to Tahir Basharat, efforts should be made to ‘mainstream’ those people where electricity theft is high and defaulters are high. According to him, Nepra as a regulator should do justice between consumers, generation, and transmission companies and take action against the controversial policy of the government.
They suggest that a formula be developed that is applicable across the country. According to him, in the past, even fatwas were taken from scholars against stealing electricity and not paying bills. According to him, now the electricity rates have also increased because every person wants to have all such facilities in the house, which has increased the consumption of electricity.
According to him, now the federal government and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will have to move forward together.
News Source: BBC
