ISLAMABAD: The federal government has agreed to reduce load-shedding and increase electricity supply hours in high-loss areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as part of efforts to provide relief to consumers and improve recovery of outstanding electricity bills.
The decision was taken at a high-level consultative meeting held at the Power Division on the special directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and the Federal Minister for Petroleum discussing sustainable solutions to energy challenges in the province.
The meeting was attended by KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, Secretary Power Division, Secretary Petroleum, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Energy and Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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According to an official statement, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi highlighted the energy situation in the province and called for a meaningful reduction in load-shedding, particularly in high-loss and severely affected areas.
Responding to the provincial leadership’s request, Power Minister Awais Leghari agreed to reduce load-shedding and extend electricity supply hours in high-loss areas that had previously been subjected to prolonged outages.
The federal leadership expressed the expectation that consumers would reciprocate the goodwill gesture by clearing outstanding electricity dues and supporting efforts to curb power theft, enabling the improved electricity supply arrangement to continue sustainably.
The meeting also discussed the implementation of the Transformer-Based Load Management System (APMS) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Leghari said the system was being actively implemented across the province, under which the conventional practice of shutting down entire feeders would gradually be replaced by load management at individual transformers.
The automated mechanism is aimed at ensuring that electricity supply restrictions are applied more selectively, particularly in areas where recovery and power theft issues have traditionally resulted in prolonged outages affecting entire communities.
The federal government and provincial leadership agreed to maintain close coordination for timely implementation of the agreed roadmap, with the objective of providing immediate and sustainable relief to consumers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The initiative is also expected to strengthen cooperation between federal and provincial authorities in improving electricity bill recovery, controlling power theft and addressing persistent energy-sector challenges in the province.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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