KP expresses reservations over proposed energy framework

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has expressed reservations over the federal government’s proposed Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) framework, calling it an attempt to reduce the potential of the province’s natural hydropower resources and saying that provincial governments were not taken on board during the design of the framework.

The proposed framework could become a major obstacle in the way of the province’s long-term energy projects, so the federal government should review its decisions. In this context, in order to clarify the provincial government’s position and concerns, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government convened a consultative meeting with the help of ISMO, which was led by Executive Director Umar Haroon Malik.

The meeting was held at PEDO House, Peshawar. Senior officials of Peshawar Energy Development Organization (PEDO), representatives of FF Steel Peshawar, Bestway Cement Hattar, Industries Department and KP Board of Investment and Trade (KP-BOIT), provincial government, attended the meeting. Moreover, during the session, provincial officials expressed their deep concerns over the revised CTBCM framework.

On this occasion, Special Assistant to Chief Minister KP on Energy Engineer Tariq Sadozai said that after the NEPRA-determined wheeling charges of Rs 2.1 per kW from the 18 MW Pehur Power Plant in the wetting model, the distribution companies had demanded Rs. 28 per kW after the injunction because they were afraid of losing their customers.

Tariq Sadozai further said that new CTBCM framework is following the same pattern of discouraging the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s energy projects by proposing a new pricing setup that involves multiple pricing charges, including cross-subsidies, financial charges and additional federal capacity, which potentially make a competitive market unfeasible.

During the session, it was highlighted that the federal government was not properly consulted during its design and stressing the need to preserve the provincial government’s role. The provincial government expressed strong concerns over power projects, and proposed that such projects be exempted from both the competitive auction process and the 800 MW cap.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) PEDO highlighted that the province’s interests must be protected and any new design of the power market must provide a level playing field for its hydropower projects.

Lastly, the Special Assistant Energy KP Tariq Sadozai concluded by reiterating the province’s commitment to pursuing a fair energy policy, emphasizing the need for transparent, fair and non-discriminatory. Wheeling charges that support the CTBCM framework as a whole and ensure due consideration for the province’s hydropower projects in particular.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025