NA body flays K-Electric for overbilling
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Water and Power on Wednesday expressed concerns about the performance of K-Electric, with some members saying that the whole idea of privatising the entity was flawed.
Syed Waseem Hussain of the MQM said almost all residents of Karachi are protesting against the power company for overbilling and loadshedding.
“I would like to draw your attention to the letter by the Ministry of Water and Power to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), stating that overbilling amounted to Rs60 billion,” he told committee chairman Arshad Khan Leghari.
However, the committee was informed that both K-Electric and Nepra rejected the claims the ministry made in the letter.
Briefing the committee, Water and Power Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar said the new buyer of K-Electric — Shanghai Electric Power — will invest $9bn in the company.
The secretary said the ministry will review the entire case of K-Electric in coming days to determine if the new buyer will be able to operate the entity efficiently as the existing management failed to achieve this task.
Mr Khokhar said K-Electric has not improved its own generation and distribution systems and is relying on 650-megawatt electricity from the national grid.
The committee was informed that the chief executives of all electricity distribution companies (Discos) were empowered to adjust power supply according to their priorities.
Talking to the media after the meeting, Mr Khokhar acknowledged that the privatisation of K-Electric did not achieve the desired objective.
He said the amount of subsidy is around Rs125bn. However, the agriculture tube well package and sales tax refunds are some of the key issues that are yet to be resolved.
The committee formed a sub-committee headed by Nawab Muhammad Yousuf Talpur to look into the issues facing Sindh-based Discos and submit its recommendations.
The chief executive officer of Peshawar Electric Supply Company informed the committee that KP is a loadshedding-free province, except those areas that have high losses or system constraints.
He claimed that 164 feeders in Peshawar are loadshedding free.
Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2017