Provinces agree to five-day working week: NTDC prepares 6 alternative power supply plans

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

ISLAMABAD: The National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) is learnt to have prepared six alternative plans to supply electricity to provinces on equitable basis.

Sources said that provinces would be updated regularly every morning about the expected power supply situation.

This was disclosed at an inter-provincial meeting held under the chairmanship of federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar on Friday. The meeting was convened to review the implementation status of the second Energy Summit.

“We have prepared six alternative electricity supply plans based on expected power generation. Every morning, provinces will be intimated about the expected supply during the day,” the sources added.

The provinces have expressed their agreement on the proposal of five working days a week and assured the meeting that necessary notifications will be issued shortly.

The ministry of water and power hopes that the implementation of five working days a week and closure of commercial business after 8pm will help save 700 megawatts of electricity.

The ministry of petroleum informed the meeting that they have already supplied 134 mmcfd gas to power sector, which would be enhanced to 194 mmcfd within three to four days. The water and power ministry had sought 210 mmcfd gas from petroleum ministry.

The Punjab government’s representative assured the meeting that shops in the province would be closed at 8pm as necessary consultation had already been completed with stakeholders. However, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were arguing that shop closure times should be 8:30pm.

The minister for water and power agreed to a proposal of KP’s representative that commercial businesses should be ensured up to four hours of uninterrupted supply before closure.  

According to an official statement, the meeting was briefed that a plan of equitable load-shedding in major cities and industrial sector, keeping in view the daily demand and supply situation, is being implemented. The provinces were requested to finalise and implement the rest of the recommendations including closure of commercial establishments at 8pm to save 250MW daily. The minister directed the National Power Control Center to share the power generation, demand and supply data along with the load management plan to provinces on a daily basis to take provincial authorities on board in this regard.

Qamar also asked the ministry to submit a revised version of the Electricity Act of 1910, which prescribed major punishments for electricity theft, in the next meeting of Council of Common Interest(CCI) for approval.

The meeting was briefed on the current demand supply situation, load management schedule.

Participants of the meeting were told that maximum relief was being passed on to dedicated industrial feeders, which were being provided with uninterrupted supply. The meeting was told that the decision regarding disconnection of billboards was being implemented along with alternate switching of streetlights.

The meeting also discussed implementation of other decisions taken during the Energy Summit like installation of pre-paid meters by the Discos in the federal and provincial offices, replacement of florescent bulbs with CFLs and payment of outstanding dues by the provinces.

Minister for Water and Power reminded the Punjab representative that as the Chief Minister has promised to clear the electricity dues within one and a half month, some amount should be paid immediately. He also urged the representatives of other provinces to clear outstanding dues.

The representative of Finance Ministry asked the provincial representatives to sit with the Adjuster in Finance Ministry and reconcile their bills, which, according to provinces, are inflated.