April 04, 2007	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 15, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, April 3: The government is likely to introduce a system of penalising those consumers who use low-quality electrical material and equipment as a tool for energy conservation to overcome impending power crisis.

This is one of many proposals the policy makers are considering at the moment. If approved, this would need appointment of a new work force on the pattern of electricity inspectors to check consumer premises to ensure the quality of wire, equipment and other materials to reduce system losses, even though the consumers pay for these losses.

This was the gist of a day-long workshop in which representatives of ministries concerned, power regulators and power distributors agreed that conservation and demand side energy management was the only solution to cope with an immediate energy crisis arising out of more than 2,000MW of electricity shortfall this summer.

They recommended a long list of measures for conservation and demand side energy management -- ranging from two weekly holidays to early closure of commercial activities. But most of their recommendations were focused on energy savings from the point distribution companies supply electricity to consumers, rather than from policymaking to delivery point except energy loss reduction programme.

Titled Conservation of Energy and Demand side Management, the workshop was organised by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and attended by representatives of ministries of water and power, petroleum and natural resources, National Energy Conservation Centre (Enercon), Pakistan Engineering Council and all power distribution companies. There was no representation from the planning commission.

A representative of the GTZ of Germany and an official of a distribution company, Mr Ibrahim Khattak, urged policymakers to show on televisions top government functionaries like president, prime minister and other ministers and top government officials conserving energy to send a positive signal to the people.

Nepra chairman Lt-Gen. (retd) Saeed-uz-Zafar said two weekly holidays, apart from saving a lot of energy, could be a very good alternative to the early closure of commercial activities to make up for reduction in commercial hours.

He said a committee comprising distribution companies, Nepra and other related agencies would make recommendations to the government on the subject.

Enercon Managing-director Pervez Tahir told the workshop that the country would be facing electricity shortage of more than 2000MW this summer and everybody should be ready to share it. Asked why the government agencies had not been able to do the supply-side management to overcome shortage instead of suppressing demand, Mr Tahir said the government agencies were requesting efficient use of energy which was not demand suppression.

Secretary water and power Ashfaq Mehmood said a combination of house keeping measures besides options like pricing as a tool to demand side management, education and awareness could be considered to overcome the shortage.

As participants exchanged views on conservation measures, some of them on the sidelines also discussed that Wapda chairman, who practically heads distribution and generation companies of Wapda, chartered a plane from Lahore to reach Islamabad the same day to meet secretary of water and power.

They proposed that consumers should be requested to use good and top quality cables and equipment and replace them after some time as a lot of energy was lost because of old cables and bad equipment.

This, they said, should be done by re-introducing electricity test certificates before new connections -- a practice that Wapda's military management had done away with on the grounds that it encouraged corruption.