HARIPUR, March 13: Pesco is contemplating resuming its campaign to install electricity meters in Fata shortly, the utility’s chief said.

Brigadier Tahir Saeed Malik told newsmen at an open forum here that the work of ‘metering’ of electricity in the federally administered areas — suspended temporarily — would be started soon.

Initially, he said, meters of commercial and irrigation consumers would be installed. Domestic consumers would have theirs last of all.

He said Fata consumers owed to Pesco Rs23 billion, of which Rs1 billion had so far been recovered. The help of central as well as provincial governments was being sought to recover the rest of the defaulted amount.

Mr Malik told a questioner that line losses had successfully been scaled down from the previous 46 per cent to 35 per cent now in the settled areas. The recovery of arrears stood at 96 per cent, he added.

Earlier, speaking at the open forum, he said 80 per cent of the electricity production was dependent on furnace oil and gas, and the ever-increasing price of these inputs had caused an all-time 15 per cent rise in the Wapda tariff. As against this, the jump in furnace oil rate was 100 per cent, he said.

However, he pledged to pass on relief to consumers whenever there was enough decline in the raw material prices.

New connection charges for those seeking three phase have been reduced from Rs9,700 to Rs8,000, and for those applying for a single phase, the charges have been cut from Rs3,900 to Rs3,000. He said this measure was intended to provide some relief to consumers.

About development work, he said Pesco had at its disposal funds amounting to Rs500 million under the KPP head. Work in areas where electrification was partially done would be completed by June.

He said 1,000 villages had been provided electricity as against a target of 1,500. The remaining villages would also have this facility before the year was out, he promised.

He also issued directives for attending to complaints regarding delay in electrification of certain areas, augmentation of transformers, replacement of dilapidated power lines and change of feeders.

The Pesco chief was also briefed on the recovery and line losses position of Hazara circle.

Present on the occasion were MPA Qazi Asad, MPA Faisal Zaman, Tehsil Nazim Iftekhar Ahmad Khan, and councillors of some UCs.