Official data painted a bleak picture of performance of power sector during the last three years as recovery percentage at the end of the second quarter of the FY 2016-17 remained at 88 per cent as against the regulator''s fixed target of 100pc, besides it saw a five per cent extra losses against the set target.
The sources said when the issue of recovery and losses came under discussion, the newly-appointed Water and Power Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar suggested that a third party be hired for verification of the claims made by the ministry and power distribution companies about substantial improvement in line losses and bill recoveries. The new secretary while challenging the claims of his predecessor has proposed audit of the statistics. The former secretary has maintained that the power sector has turned a new leaf in its history in all respects as he has claimed that recoveries improved from 88.6pc to 93.8pc and losses declined from 19.1pc to 17.9pc with an overall additional cash benefit of Rs 116 billion. Dagha had also claimed that load-shedding of 12-15 hours was down to zero for Industry, 4-6 hours for domestic consumers whereas tariffs were down: for solar Rs 17 per unit to 6/unit; wind Rs 15 to 6.50/ unit; RLNG Rs 9.5 to 6.6/ unit, while coal was also expected to go down from Rs 8.5 to 7/unit.
He is also said to have on record that an additional 10,000MW would enter the network in the next 12 months, and the country is set to come out of load-shedding by August 2017.
According to the ministry''s secretary, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) was responsible for growing circular debt. "Owing to difference between Nepra''s assumption of 100pc recoveries and average 15.3pc line losses against actual recoveries and losses, the circular debt surged from Rs 320 billion in October 2014 to Rs 374 billion in December 2016," he added
Holding the Finance Ministry responsible for the liquidity crunch in the energy chain, the incumbent Water & Power secretary maintained that his ministry did not tighten the noose around inefficient power companies that failed to curb power theft. Official sources said that after a detailed discussion on the country''s energy situation, the committee sought a detailed briefing in its next meeting about the energy projects in the pipeline, scheduled to be completed by early 2018, with realistic timelines, including installed and available capacity of each project.
"A comparison of timelines for load-shedding and projects given earlier by the former secretary of Ministry of Water & Power and presently projected by the Ministry of Water and Power may be included in the presentation. Younus Dagha will also be invited to the next meeting," the sources added.
The issue of dispute with M/s Fatima Energy Limited also came under discussion and the committee decided that a well reputed counsel should be engaged to defend the position of the federation in the court against the petition of M/s Fatima Energy Limited. The committee also directed the ministry to submit realistic load-shedding management plan for summer 2017 and beyond.
The CCE took the following decisions: (i) resolve the issues with Nepra pertaining to power sector, including generation and distribution tariff and submit a report to the CCE in its next meeting; (iii) update the CCE about the progress on Diamer Bhasha Dam and Dasu Dam projects in its next meeting; (iv) have a detailed review of Neelum-Jhelum and Tarbela-4 hydropower projects with the Wapda chairman. If necessary, Wapda chairman may also be invited to the next meeting; and (v) a vision of power sector beyond 2018 may also be given in the next meeting.
The sources said that following the CEE meeting, Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif, Secretary to the Prime Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad and the incumbent secretary of the ministry held a detailed meeting with Wapda chairman, General Muzammal Hussain( retired) on April 11, 2017 in the committee room of the ministry.
The sources said the minister and secretary to the PM were not happy with the Wapda chairman''s briefings and his auxiliary project experts. The minister observed that he is not an expert, but the figures and statistics of different officials do not match.
Wapda chairman was seen the next day at the site of 969MW Neelum Jehlum Hydroelectric Project with its first unit scheduled to be operational by February 28, 2018. However, completion of 1410MW Tarbela-4th extension may be further delayed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017