The Prime Minister expressed displeasure at the duration of the current load shedding schedule and stated that it is the responsibility of the government to provide relief to the masses. "Anticipated planning has not been exercised by the relevant Ministries and their organizations for which responsibility must be fixed," says an official statement quoting the Prime Minister.
Sources said the Ministry of Water and Power complained that the Finance Ministry has yet to release the Tariff Differential Subsidy (TDS) despite a decision of the CCoE prompting the Finance Ministry''s officials to maintain that since the Water and Power Ministry has not submitted any such claim so far, then how can the Finance Ministry be held responsible? The officials of Water and Power Ministry who attended the meeting were seen running in their Ministry''s corridors later muttering "today was a bad day. The Prime Minister was furious."
Energy sector observers who are closely monitoring the performance of Water and Power Ministry for the last three to four years are of the considered opinion that the incumbent team of the Ministry does not have the capacity to deal with the challenge.
According to an official statement, Secretary Water & Power briefed the meeting on availability and utilisation of idle IPPs and captive power plants. He also briefed on issues pertaining to upfront tariff by Nepra and load management plan for the summer. He informed the meeting that power generation amounting to 866 MW has been restored to the system in April and further 400MW would be added by mid May 2017.
Informed sources told Business Recorder that at least two idle rental power plants are ready to supply electricity to the national grid on "take and pay" basis but some officials of the Ministry are deliberately creating undue hurdles. Minister Water & Power informed the meeting that power system constraints resolution programme would be completed by December 2017. The Minister for Finance briefed the meeting on his meeting with the President World Bank regarding funding of solar power projects in Pakistan.
Prime Minister directed Secretary Water & Power to constitute a dedicated team for hourly monitoring of the power supply situation as well as monitoring of power transmission and distribution system on a weekly basis. The Prime Minister directed Secretary Water & Power, Secretary Finance and Secretary to PM to present a line of action for resolution of issues related to in-operational IPPs and present a report in two days.
The Prime Minister directed Ministry of Petroleum & Ministry of Water & Power to work out a balanced conversion plan of power generation plants from furnace oil to Re-gasified Liquid Natural Gas (RLNG) and coal and present the plan in the next meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy. This would help the government to further reduce the cost of electricity for all sectors.
The meeting was attended by Mr. Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Finance, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources, Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Planning, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Water & Power, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab, Maryum Aurangzeb, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to PM and senior officials.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017