ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: In an apparent attempt to hide the failures of his ministry, Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali has blamed the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) for causing losses to Wapda by consuming more electricity than the agreed quantity.

The KESC was “choking the whole country” by consuming more than the agreed quantity of 650 megawatts from the national grid, the minister said in a statement.

Mr Sher Ali, however, acknowledged the inability of his ministry and the power sector of the country to do anything in this regard.

“Due to violation by KESC, we are forced to operate diesel-run power plants to cover up the shortfall,” Mr Sher Ali said.

The minister said that electricity generation through diesel had caused a loss of Rs576 million to the power sector over the past few months.

He has directed the National Power Control Centre (NPCC) to study the KESC’s transmission system and prepare a report suggesting ways to limit supply to it by up to 650 megawatts.

The minister accused KESC of not operating its thermal generation plants to save cost and instead taking cheaper electricity from the national grid.

Meanwhile, an official of the Ministry of Water and Power told Dawn that the government had an agreement to supply 650MW of electricity to KESC, the country’s only private sector electricity distribution company.

“But in case of high demand KESC utilises electricity more than the agreed limit, and there is no system in place to stop further flow of power beyond that point,” the official said.

“Instead of accusing KESC we should upgrade the system so that the NPCC can cap supply limit,” he added.

Some officials of the ministry were of the opinion that instead of making public statements, a warning should be issued to KESC and a copy of it should be forwarded to Nepra (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority).

In the first week of current month, Mr Sher Ali directed NPCC to cut off power supply to KESC if it breached its limits, but he was informed later that such a move was technically impossible.

The official suggested to the minister of state that the government should focus on improving the efficiency of plants instead of controlling the supply side.

“It is important to ensure that KESC pays all its dues, and even the penalties imposed by NPCC, rather than politicising the issue,” the official said.

“There has to be new revised agreement with KESC with higher tariff for power consumed beyond the 650MW limit,” he added.