ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: The Daylight Saving Time (DST) introduced in June this year provided a saving of about Rs1.9 billion on account of lower generation of about 250MW a day.

The clocks would be moved back by one hour from Sept 1 as announced at the time of introducing the DST with effect from June 1, 2008, said a senior official of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), an umbrella organisation of power distribution, generation and transmission companies.

He said the power generation cost during the past three months averaged about Rs8 per unit (kWh). The advancement of the clock by one hour provided a saving of 250MW for eight hours a day. As the DST remained effective for three months, a total of about 240 million units (kWh) were saved in three months, resulting in a saving of about Rs1.92 billion at the rate of Rs8 per unit generation cost.

He said the setting up the generation capacity of 250MW would have cost $500 million in addition to related recurring cost on operation, maintenance and transmission.

The official said that Pepco, Wapda or their associated companies had not recommended an extension in the DST for another month as was being discussed in the market and the original announcement of observing the DST for three months i.e. June 1 to August 31 would be adhered to without any change.

There are, however, reports that the government had not taken a final decision whether or not to restore the traditional Pakistan Standard Time on August 31 and would consider it in a meeting of the federal cabinet on Wednesday.

The official said that the DST had a lot of benefits for the economy but these could optimally be achieved only in case the clocks are advanced for six months. i.e. from April 1 to October 1 every year.