Cost-effective electricity: PEDO, PESCO agree on expansion of wheeling model

PESHAWAR: Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) Tuesday agreed on removal of hurdles in the process of sale and purchase of electricity and expansion of wheeling model for provision of cheap electricity to industrial sector.

Both the parties have also agreed on signing of formal power purchase agreement for the electricity produced by Golan Goal Power Station, Chitral and taking of all stakeholders into confidence before initiating any energy project anywhere in the province.

Consensus on these matters was developed during a meeting between PEDO and PESCO held here with Adviser to KP CM on Energy Himayatullah Khan in the chair. Beside Secretary Energy Mohammad Zubair Khan, PESCO CEO Engr Jabbar Khan, PEDO CEO Engr Naeem Khan, Additional Secretary (Power) Zafar-ul-Islam, Additional Secretary Iqbal Yousafzai, PESCO Chief Engineer Habib Khan, Engr Zahid Akhtar Sabri and CE Maqsood Anwar also attended the meeting.

Briefing the meeting, the PESCO CEO Engr Jabbar Khan attributed the illegal use of electricity, shortage of field staff, outdated transmission line, over-loaded transformers and lack of bills depositing culture as main reasons behind load shedding.

He said that Covid-19 emergency situation had affected the recovery drive of their power distribution company, saying that load shedding on better recovery feeders is zero.

The meeting also discussed issues pertaining to sale electricity agreements of the Pedo completed power houses including Machai, Koto and Jabbori and payment of electricity dues of the Pahur power house and extension of wheeling model. The meeting worked out a strategy for resolving these issues.

The meeting was told that the process of payment through the net metering system would start form next month for the electricity generated from the solar energy system from the chief minister and civil secretariat.

Secretary Energy Zubair assured Pesco officials that the provincial government would continue its cooperation for prevention of illegal use of electricity and recovery of dues from defaulters. In this regard, the provincial task force in collaboration with PESCO officials recovered Rs.2 billion dues.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020