The government promised the nation that load shedding will be eliminated from the country by 2018 before the general elections. Prime Minister''s spokesman Dr Musaddak Malik, who was a caretaker Minister for Water and Power, is reportedly providing facts to the Prime Minister about the power sector.
Ministry of Water and Power, sources said, would also update the committee on third-party validation of distribution system and transmission data. Secretary Water and Power, Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, recently informed the CCoE that National Electric Power Regulatory Authority ( Nepra) is responsible for the growing circular debt. He argued that owing to the difference between Nepra''s assumption of 100% bill recoveries and average 15.3% line losses and actual recoveries and losses, the circular debt had surged from Rs 320 billion in October 2014 to Rs 374 billion in December 2016.
Ministry of Water and Power recently informed the Prime Minister that it is mulling over the option of taking the power-sector regulator to court if it refuses to burden consumers with the annual cost of power theft amounting to Rs 82 billion. Secretary Water and Power will also submit update on resolution of upfront tariff issues with Nepra for different kinds of sources including LNG, solar, coal, furnace oil, diesel and gas. The Prime Minister had also directed that line departments should work out immediate solutions for administrative and legal issues faced in implementation of energy projects on priority.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017