ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday hinted at granting licence of ‘transmission company’ to Punjab Grid Company (PGC) on the pattern of Sindh and KP, amid fears of disagreements between the concerned stakeholders including NTDC and Discos.
The Authority, comprising Chairman Tauseef H Farooqi, Member (Technical) Rafique Ahmad Shaikh, Member (Licensing) Maqsood Anwar Khan and Member (Legal) Amina Ahmed did not appear to aggressively disagree with the team of Punjab Energy Department as the Authority has already granted licences to two provinces on similar grounds.
Chairman also appreciated Saniya Awais, CEO Punjab Power Development Board (PPBD), a former class fellow (a special class) in Engineering University, for preparing a good presentation.
Other members of Punjab Energy Department included Dr Naeem Rauf Secretary Energy, Ahmad Salman Chief Technical Officer PGC, Barrister Asghar Khan Legal Counsel PGC, Muhammad Zia ud- din (Technical Consultant) PGC.
However, no representation from NTDC, the key opponent of provincial transmission companies, was seen during the hearing. NTDC has already challenged the decision of Nepra with regard to transmission licences to Sindh and KP at Appellate Tribunal which indicates the licence to Punjab will also land before the Appellate Tribunal. Four Discos have also challenged this matter in other courts.
The representative of Provincial Energy Department informed the Authority that out of total industrial consumers of 28,115 GWh across the country, 23,253 GWh are in Punjab whereas commercial consumption of 5,853GWh in Punjab is also the highest against total consumption of 7,386 GWh in the country. Bulk supplies in Punjab are 2,421 GWh whereas total bulk supplies stood at 3,611 GWh.
The Authority was told that 83.72 per cent of Pakistan’s total industrial consumption is in Punjab, followed by 79.24 per cent of commercial consumption and 67.04 per cent of bulk supplies consumption.
According to presentation, Ministry of Law and Justice and Board of Investment (BoI) have supported grant of transmission licence to Punjab Grid Company (PGC).
However, the GoP has not yet framed rule under section 18(A) non-prescription of rules does not preclude PGC from obtaining licence. PGC is wholly owned by the government of Punjab (GoPb), which committed to provide sufficient funds to meet minimum solvency requirement.
Saniya Awais maintained that Nepra has already granted transmission licences to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without such rules in the field, seeking treatment at par with the two provinces. PGC also has the option to outsource some of its activities including EPC etc.
During question hour, one of the participants asked that since provinces have been given substantial financial resources under NFC after 18th amendment they still ask for more funds so what will be the future of NTDC and Nepra when provinces have their own generation, transmission and regulatory authorities.
Responding to the question, Chairman Nepra stated that such modules are working in a number of countries with all entities running their affairs in close coordination and cooperation, which is not evident in the case of Pakistan. He cited the example of Sindh Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Sepra), which has started challenging Nepra and accusing it of discrimination with respect to approval of projects.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023