ISLAMABAD: Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) and Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco) Tuesday faced taunts from consumers across the province for massive overbilling, detection bills, rampant corruption, repair of damaged transformers on payment and unscheduled load shedding across the province.
This was the outcome of webinar public hearing held by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) which continued for three hours and began at 10:30 am. Chairman Nepra Tauseef. H. Siddiqui presided over the public hearing. Vice Chairman Saif Ullah Chattha, Member KP, Engineer Bahadar Khan, Member Balochistan, Rehmatullah Baloch and Rafique Ahmad Shaikh were also present.
Hesco CEOs Abdul Haq Memon informed the Authority that loadshedding is being done on the basis of losses and recovery. He was of the view that unschooled load shedding has been controlled to some extent.
Chairman Nepra stated that the Authority has received a letter from Minister for Energy Sindh, Imtiaz Shaikh which says that Hesco is engaged in unscheduled loadshedding.
The CEO Hesco informed the participants that average load shedding is 5-6 hours, but maximum load shedding in high loss areas was 12 hours. He acknowledged there were issues related to transformers during recent torrential rains adding that this year duration of load shedding is less compared to previous years; hospital feeders are free from load shedding he stated.
Minister for Energy, Imtiaz Shaikh said that load shedding duration is 18 hours across the province. "I don't want to make it a political issue but it is a very serious issue. Nepra should send its teams to investigate load shedding like it did in KE," he suggested.
Imtiaz Shaikh enquired if Hesco and Sepco are taking their full quota of allocated supply from the National Power Control Centre (NPCC). He cited a Nepra report according to which the two Discos did not draw 200-300 MW of electricity of their allocated quota.
The issue of theft also came under discussion, CEO, Hesco was of the view that first of all, FIRs are not being registered against theft and if one is registered action is not taken against the accused. The issue of hooks (Kunda) was also highlighted both in Hesco and Sepco. Some of the consumers accused Discos staff of conniving with power thieves whereas CEOs were of the view that as they remove hooks, people again attach them to the main lines within hours. This is the reason that transformers are damaged due to overloading they averted.
The consumers of Hesco were of the view that the attitude of Disco's staff was rude and non cooperative. "First of all staff does not take calls and in case they attend, their attitude is rude," they added. Some of the consumers reported highhandedness of Discos' staff. The Authority took serious note of this issue. The representative of Shaheed Benazir Chamber of Commerce and Industry informed the Authority that they are not only facing unscheduled load shedding but also overbilling.
"Issues are unresolved but linemen have become millionaires," he maintained. A female doctor, who was a cancer patient, complained that she was receiving a bill of thousands of rupees of her mother's uninhabited house for the last four years.
"I have knocked every door of Hesco but my issue is unresolved," she added. Chairman Nepra took serious note of complaint of lady doctor. Several other complainants also raised their individual and collective issues.
The CEO Sepco informed the Authority that non recovery of bills and hooks are major issues in rural areas falling under the control of Sepco. He said, 150 feeders out of 650 are load shedding free and load shedding of about 12 hours is being done in some areas as per losses.
The Authority enquired why the Discos are seeking more quota of supply from NPCC when their requirement is less, the CEO Sepco replied that they determine demand as per peak load observed during Covid19 situation adding "how can I supply electricity to those areas where losses are 90 per cent."
Minister for Energy Sindh, raised an issue of pools in the area of Nadir Magsi. Vice Chairman Nepra, Saif Ullah Chattha warned the CEO, Sepco of stern action against him if this issue is not resolved.
One of the consumers said that Nepra has failed to establish its authority in Hesco and Sepco. He said Hesco has overbilled to the time of Rs 52 billion during the last six years, and 80,000 times detection bills were sent to 1.1 million consumers. Disco has waived off Rs 16 billion without any authority while showing charged units in line losses, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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