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THE power sector is in turmoil it seems, from the overbilling scandal. The past week has seen new protests and new pronouncements. Once the cabinet decided to lift a decade-old ban on new recruitments in the power bureaucracy, thereby opening the door to inducting tens of thousands of ‘meter readers’, it appeared the government was running out of ideas.
Now Nepra, the power sector regulator, appears to have awoken from its slumber and resorted to some action. According to reports appearing in parts of the press, including this paper, the regulator’s chief has prohibited the induction of new meter readers by the distribution companies, saying they should rely on technology to produce more accurate billing instead of dubiously trained and expensively maintained manpower. If more people were the answer to the power crisis, we wouldn’t be in a power crisis at all.
Since the Nepra chief has weighed in with sensible words, here’s some completely unsolicited advice for him. To make the power bureaucracy more responsive to the needs of its consumers, force them to release their operational and financial data on a regular basis as per a predetermined template.
This isn’t rocket science. Everyday a stream of operational data flows from the myriad power plants and distribution company offices into Pepco headquarters on the Mall in Lahore. They include data like amount of electricity generated, operational stats of the various turbines, flue gas emissions, fuel stock position and much more. The distribution companies report the quantity of electricity purchased, the amount sent out to consumers, and every so often, the units billed in each respective circle. Of course, there is a lot more, this is just a sample, and some of it comes in daily, some weekly, some monthly, and others on demand or according to an irregular cycle.
Nepra, the power regulator, appears to have awoken from its slumber and resorted to some action.
Financial data might be a trickier proposition, primarily because Pepco’s own financial wizardry leaves a lot to be desired. But big ticket data can still be released. If the Federal Board of Revenue can release the amount of tax collected as per a regular reporting cycle, for instance, why can’t Pepco be required to release the amount of cash generated from billing recoveries? Notice we’re not talking about units billed, that’s where the hanky-panky takes place. Let’s ask them to show us the money, period.
What will this do? First, it’ll introduce a little discipline into Pepco management. Second, it will make it difficult to play around with the numbers too much, because as the data piles up anomalous trends become easy to detect. It will introduce a level of accountability into the power bureaucracy that they are currently completely unused to, and direly in need of.
This won’t be difficult to create, in fact it’s very easy. Since this data is already part of a reporting template, all that needs to be done is to open a new reporting line that carries the data from Pepco headquarters to Nepra headquarters in Islamabad. As the data begins landing in Nepra, it can be automatically uploaded to their website, giving us an option to download it in Excel format if we wish.
It’ll be instructive to see the picture that begins to appear once the data piles up. It’ll be interesting to see where the electricity is coming from, where it’s going. And likewise with the funds, if they can be made to release their recoveries by circle. Since much of the grid has now been equipped with smart feeders, it’s easily possible to create an interactive map that tells you the daily position of each feeder when you click on it. Historical data can be downloaded with a click on a link.
We could model the fuel going into each powerhouse, the electricity coming out in return, and the track the journey of that electricity through much of the grid. With this data in the public domain, it’ll become much easier to build a reliable picture of what ails the system, and pinpoint locations where inefficiencies are visible.
I’m not sure if there are examples of other countries where similar templates are operating, but I know it’s quite common in many other areas of government operations to mandate release of regular information. Consider the State Bank for instance, which maintains the most rigorous data reporting system out of everybody, giving us daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly and annual snapshots and analytical reports about every aspect of the economy. You can find out how much money is being printed, how much is landing up in the banks and how much is staying in cash circulation.
Government debt is highly visible too. You can find out how much money went into which tenors, which instruments, against what returns. You can see where the stocks are accumulating, what the shape of the flows has been over a long period of time. And for our convenience, the data is offered in a form that is easily rendered in Excel format, sometimes Excel archives being available for direct download.
Ogra and the water bureaucracy also release regular data, as does the Federal Flood Commission and the Met Department.
The power sector is unique in this regard. It’s used to operating in the dark. There is no requirement worthy of mention to release any data, and even information on the gap between supply and demand for electricity is given in a highly casual way over the phone. It’s time to end this reign of discretionary power. Perhaps the overbilling scandal provides a window of opportunity here, to cast a light into the dark corners of the power bureaucracy and ask some basic questions.
The writer is a member of staff.
Twitter: @khurramhusain
Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2014
