ISLAMABAD: The power Distribution Companies' (Discos') obsolete systems are said to have almost collapsed across the country due to which out of allocated quota of 23,940MW, over 4500 MW remained unutilized on Friday, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.

According to the information gathered from across the country, frequent outages are witnessed in the big cities including twin cities, Rawalpindi- Islamabad, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, tribal areas, Quetta and interior Sindh, which falls under the jurisdiction of Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) and Sukkar Electric Supply Company (Sepco).

The sources said, Discos were allocated 23,940MW against a demand of 22,626MW, and only 19,321MW was drawn, i.e., 4,619MW less than the allocated quota due to system constraints and recovery-based load shedding.

Cities are facing load shedding duration of 4-8 hours whereas far flung areas from 10-12 hours. The business activities in the cities have almost come to a halt. At the same time, inflated bills which also include heavy sums of quarterly tariff adjustments and financial charges are irritating consumers.

For instance, the allocation for Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) was 2,700 MW against the demand of 2,800 MW but the company drew only 2,054MW, i.e., 646MW less than the allocated quota due to system constraints. Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) was allocated 200MW against a demand of 168MW which drew only 120MW.

The allocated quota for Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) was 2,200MW against a demand of 1,934MW but the company drew only 1,887MW, i.e., less 322MW due to system constraints. Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) was allocated 2,500MW against a demand of 2,126MW but the company drew only 2,001MW, almost 500MW less than the allocated quota. Likewise, Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) drew 4,474MW and 2,756MW against allocated quotas of 4,700MW and 2,800MW, respectively.

Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco), Sepco, Hesco and Qesco drew less quota by 491MW, 382MW, 210MW and 1,044MW respectively.

However, Karachi Electric (KE) which has been allocated 650MW against a demand of 681MW, drew 681MW, i.e., 31MW over and above the allocated quota.

The top brass of Power Division which is already under fire for poor performance on all fronts is continuously holding meetings through video links with the top officials of Discos.

When contacted, the officials of different Discos said that their systems are unable to supply the required electricity to consumers due to old distribution systems including transformers and technical glitches.

Recently, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) issued show-cause notices to all the Discos on reported load shedding with the direction to submit replies within three days but Discos have not yet submitted any update to the regulator.

However, sources in Karachi Electric told Business Recorder that the power utility has sent its reply to the regulator, which is being examined. Nepra's technical team will verify the information/data prior to submission to the Authority for future action.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020

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