THE recent round of load-shedding that the city of Karachi has been experiencing is a natural outcome of the mismanagement that the power sector has been subjected to for over a decade now. A dispute has erupted between K-Electric, the main utility that provides power to Karachi, and SSGC, the gas distribution company that supplies the vital fuel with which power is generated for the city. On the surface, SSGC has tried to portray the entire affair as a shortage of gas supply, arguing that it is not receiving enough gas to meet the needs of K-Electric with the onset of summer and the heightened demand for electricity that comes with rising temperatures. But the explanation smacks of disingenuousness, especially since the petroleum ministry has confirmed that there are no problems at the gas fields from where SSGC draws its supplies. The problem is basically one of payment. K-Electric owes an amount to SSGC for past arrears, and both companies have decided to pay an agreed sum from the total in instalments. The rest of the amount is to be settled in court. Has SSGC refused to increase the supply of gas to K-Electric — given the rising power generation requirements of the company with the onset of the hot weather — simply for the purpose of extracting a past payment? If so, then it is another example of how the power supply chain has been left to its own devices to manage a growing circular debt and the problems of lack of payment. In short, ultimately, the failure belongs to the government, whose job it is to ensure that the stream of power supply and payments flows smoothly.

At the same time that Karachi finds itself in the crossfire between SSGC and K-Electric, large parts of Punjab and Islamabad are suffering from increased load-shedding as well. Meanwhile, gas allocations are becoming increasingly complicated as shortages of system gas grow while more stakeholders are being asked to shift to imported LNG as their source at almost triple the cost. The fertiliser sector, to take one example, has refused to operate on imported gas due to the massive cost differentials, with others set to follow suit. The whole episode drives home the point that the problems of power supply go far beyond raw megawatts. Without governance reforms in the power sector, problems such as these will continue to plague the country.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2018