LAHORE, Nov 8: The industrial sector went into a panic on Saturday after receiving notices from the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LesCo) that it would not be able to “supply power during the winter months because of gas loadshedding.”

LesCo officials, however, denied issuing such notices. “They company did serve notices that it would only ensure sanctioned load but would not be able to provide any additional load,” says Mr Akram Arian – the LesCo CEO.

Mr Shahzad Azam Khan, one of the recipients of the notices, nevertheless insisted that the letter neither contained “additional load nor time frame” wording but simply said that the LesCo would not be able to supply electricity because of gas loadshedding during winter months and the factory owners should arrange their own supply.

Explaining the notice, Mr Arian said that some of its industrial consumers had started their own generation and reduced sanctioned load because they had to pay fixed charges as per their sanctioned load. “When in winter, gas supplies are stopped and their own generation also stops, they return to LesCo for additional supplies.

“It makes other consumers suffer who depend on LesCo for 365 days supplies. The company faced problems last year because of this eventuality. It has only warned such consumers this year, and did so on time so that they could arrange their alternative sources.”