Talking to Business Recorder, DISCOs sources said that the grid stations were in control of NTDC in mid-90s. The problems of DISCOs kept on piling as the NTDC staff was neither quick to remove faults nor ever allowed the DISCOs to handle it at their own. This situation multiplied the worries of power consumers as well as the DISCOs, so the government finally decided to hand it over to the DISCOs back in 1999. Since then, the control of grid stations is in the hands of DISCOs but a proposal has once again been under consideration to revise the system, which has been strongly opposed by the DISCOs by and large.
At present, the NTDC - a subsidiary of the ministry - is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the 220kV and 500kV grid stations and transmission lines network while DISCOs run the secondary transmission grids and distribution set ups (11kV, 33kV, 66kV and 132kV) across the country. There are 1,000 grid stations (33, 66 and 132kV capacity) being operated and maintained by 10 DISCOS. On the other hand, the NTDC is operating and maintaining 14 grid stations of 500kV and 38 of 220kV. These include 9 in Islamabad, 19 in Lahore, 9 in Multan and 13 in Hyderabad. Media reports suggest that the move has been in the offing to accommodate the unnecessary expansion by NTDC in the last couple of years. The sources in DISCOs have pointed out that the ministry should take action against the NTDC authorities for hiring staff unnecessarily. Furthermore, they said, the ministry should also consider the fate of the employees at DISCOs likely to be declared as surplus in case their jobs are handed over to the NTDC.
They said the DISCOs staff always extends a quick response to the day to day system hiccups and keeps the transmission flow intact. The NTDC staff, on the other hand, cannot be as responsive as the DISCOs staff is because they consider themselves as federal employees and waste too much time in fulfilling the standard operating procedures (SOPs), they added. The power sector experts have termed it a malafide move, saying only the DISCOs staff is able to handle the transmission system on 33kV, 66kV and 132kV grid systems. The NTDC, on the other hand, should handle 220 kV and above capacity grid stations, they added.
Another leading power sector expert, requesting anonymity, said the transmission system was in control of Transmission and Grid (T&G) System while the Area Electricity Boards were supposed to control the affairs of 11kV and below lines. The transmission stayed with the NTDC for a while but handed over to DISCOs after they came into being in late 90s. He said the transmission in control of DISCOs is called sub-transmission lines and the ministry would be unable to run the system by weakening the DISCOs.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017