PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be provided its full share of 13.4 per cent of the total electricity production on daily basis and the access electricity available at any feeder will be shifted to other feeders to reduce loadshedding in the province. 

The provincial government will fully support the Peshawar Electric Supply Company to launch an operation against power stealing throughout the province. However, Pesco will take strict action against its officials for their connivance in the power theft. 

The issue of payment of outstanding dues to the KP government by the federal government on account of net hydel profit will be taken up at the Council of Common Interest (CCI) for a sustainable resolution of the issue.

These decisions were taken in a high-level meeting of the provincial and federal governments held at the CM Secretariat on Tuesday with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak in the chair. 

Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Mohammad Asif, Minister for Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, concerned provincial ministers and secretaries, chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, additional chief secretary, chairman Wapda, Pesco chief, FBR authorities and other high-ranking officers attended the meeting.

CM chairs meeting attended by Khawaja Asif, Khaqan Abbasi and Abid Sher

The chief minister presented demands of the provincial government, mainly related to the power loadshedding, payment of net hydel profit and its arrears to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, royalty on gas and LPG, the provincial share in federal taxes, permission to generate electricity from the provincial gas reserves, replacement of defective power transformers, anti-power theft measures, provision of new transformers, and provision of electricity connections to the public health schemes and new schools and hospitals of the province. 

The meeting decided that the issue of net hydel profit would be taken to the CCI for its permanent resolution. The meeting agreed on the load management arrangements suggested by the chief minister for controlling access and unannounced loadshedding in the province, and it was assured by the federal power minister to release full share of electricity to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and fully utilise this share for mitigating the loadshedding. 

It was decided that more electricity would be provided to those feeders where the line losses were quite low whereas power outages on the feeders suffering 70 per cent and above line losses would not be reduced until the power theft was overcome. 

The meeting also decided that the provincial government and Pesco would launch a joint operation against electricity stealing and the chief minister assured full cooperation in this regard. He, however, stressed that Pesco should take strict action against its officials for their involvement in power theft. 

He also floated certain proposals for overcoming the line losses which were accepted by the federal minister. 

It was decided that Pesco would provide details of power production and its allocation at all the feeders to the provincial government three times daily. Schedule of loadshedding will also be shared with the provincial government daily and the consumers will be informed about it at district level, the meeting decided.

Pesco assured the provincial government to provide transformers and electricity connections to all new public health schemes, schools and hospitals by the end of current month and that it would make available all new transformers by December for which the MPAs had already made payments.

The provincial government also raised issues regarding oil and gas and it was decided that the matter of gas provision to local population residing around gas fields of Karak district would be resolve through a jirga comprising the federal and the provincial governments’ representatives. 

On a demand, the federal minister for natural resources agreed to grant permission to the provincial government for generating electricity from surplus gas reserves of the province. 

A consensus on both sides was also evolved for removing impediments to 72-kilometre Kohat gas pipeline and establishment of oil refineries in southern districts of the province.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2015

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