Under the USAID Power Distribution Program more than 126 senior and mid-level managers of DISCOs have participated in the Utility Exchange Programs in eight different countries, including USA, Australia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, UAE, South Africa and Turkey.
USAID has conducted eleven Exchange Programs for energy sector with the express purpose of introducing DISCOs’ leaders to international best practices in Commercial Management, HR & Change Management, Distribution Systems Engineering, Engineering Planning, Financial Management Planning, Customer Services, and Communications.
USAID conducted a special Exchange Program to the United Arab Emirates in March 2013 for mid-level women employees from eight DISCOs in Customer Services and Commercial Management.
USAID has also completed over twenty functional and leadership training courses throughout all DISCOs reaching over 1300 DISCO staff.
Training in leadership, finance, accounting, HR, engineering, customer service, meter reading and other areas were provided after a detailed needs assessment determined that the DISCOs require skill development in these areas. Basic IT training was given to more than 1,000 DISCOs’ staff to promote the use of IT in DISCOs.
Sustainability is critical to long term success therefore USAID launched Training of Trainers courses to have skilled DISCOs’ trainers fully capable of teaching courses developed by USAID.
These trainers will use global standard, modern training methods which increase the knowledge and skill retention of trainees. To further support sustainability, USAID has provided modern training equipment, including multi-media to each purpose-built Regional Training Center of DISCOs.
Organizational Assessment and Restructuring inititaive was launched at MEPCO focusing on developing proposals and implementation road maps, covering key areas, such as performance management systems, training & development, and employee relations.
Power Distribution Program has worked closely with MEPCO BOD, management and HR Department to come up with proposals that are based on best industrial practices and tailored to suit the needs of MEPCO. The objective is to achieve a better-aligned organizational structure with well-defined responsibilities and accountabilities.
This initiative will also serve as a model for other DISCOs.
A change management project has successfully been completed in PESCO. USAID helped improve maintenance processes in subdivisions of Kissa Khawani, Sikandarpura and Chawk Yadgar.
The improved maintenance patrolling results were entered in Network Maintenance Application to automate the preventive maintenance process.
Network Maintenance application enabled the subdivision to capture all the points which could be a source of safety concerns or losses and helped in managing the entire preventive maintenance cycle.
The five-year USAID Power Distribution Program was announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009 as one of the US efforts to support Government of Pakistan to reform the power sector to mitigate the current energy crisis.
The program is helping government-owned electric power distribution companies (DISCOs) improve their commercial performance in reducing losses, increasing revenues, and improving customer services by introduction of new technology and improved work practices.