Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf responding to the questions of parliamentarians in the National Assembly during a call attention notice on Tuesday said reports about 45 percent increase in power tariff were based on assumptions and speculations.
There is no way that RPPs would increase the power tariff by 45 percent and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) failed to finalise its report yet. The minister said he took up the matter with the Ministry of Finance and the ADB after the issue was raised by some members in the Parliament and both of them have come up with denials on this count. The third party validation report by the ADB was being finalised and would be released by January 22, he added.
Raja Pervez Ashraf said truthfulness of the speculations of 45 percent increase in electricity tariff with the induction of rental power plants would come to fore only after the release of the ADB report. He said the whole process of validation is being conducted through the Ministry of Finance and the Water and Power Ministry was not involved in it. The minister acknowledged that electricity generated by the rental power plants was expensive as compared to the power generated from other means simply because this was the quick fix to the problem of energy crisis.
Replying to a call attention regarding adverse effects of power tariff on the industry, he said certainly the increase in power tariff does have negative impact on the industry and social life but this issue falls in the domain of National Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) that determines tariff through public hearing keeping in view the cost of electricity production, distribution and transmission.
The minister said the government was selling electricity to people on the price substantially lower to the tariff of Nepra and for the purpose allocated Rs 55 billion as subsidy. He said annual difference of generation and service was around Rs 144 billion.
He said present energy mix of 65 percent thermal and 35 percent hydel was not affordable and has to be balanced by moving towards hydel generation for cheaper electricity. To generate more electricity through hydel, he said work on Basha, Neelum and Mongi dams was under way. He said expensive electricity certainly affects every sector but more dangerous is not to have the electricity.
About loadshedding schedules, he said, DISCOs try to manage schedules but some unforeseen reasons such as fog and blasting power pylons disrupt supply in some areas unusually. He said DISCOs ensure 10 hours uninterrupted supply for tubewells during night to avert extra charges paid by farmers due to loadshedding.
Earlier, parliamentarians Sherry Arshad of Pakistan Muslim League and Tahira Aurangzeb besides many others expressed serious concern that the energy crisis would have negative impact on the growth. They said most affected from the prevailing energy crisis was the industrial sector. The members also raised question with regard to the ADB report published in a section of press suggesting an increase of 45 percent in electricity cost with the installation of rental power plants.