PTI Energy Conference

Political parties vying for change are often rubbished aside for not having clear-cut agenda and merely riding on rhetoric. Unfortunately, when such agenda, regarding the pressing issues faced by the economy is presented, it appeared as if there were a few on the lookout for it. What else can explain the medias silence over the recent conference on energy challenges faced by the country which was organised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf? Political ideologies aside, the energy conference was a serious attempt and should be looked upon in the best national interest. What stood out was the fact the conference stressed on the point that it is high time professionals should take charge of matters in the energy sector, and the governments role should be confined to regulation and oversight. The conference highlighted that Pakistan stands at the verge of an energy abyss, as a result of criminal ignorance and lack of political will to improve the energy mix and to increase the countrys generation capacity. Speakers at the conference warned that the energy deficit faced by the country may double within the next five years to reach as high as 11,000 megawatts if the current apathetic attitude of policy makers towards this sector persists. Similarly, natural gas shortage is predicted to rise from 1,600mmcfd at present, to a massive 3,500mmcfd in five years time and the dire consequences of such a situation are known to one and all. Moreover, the energy import bill will skyrocket to $60-120 billion by 2025, if usiness as usual carries on, which Pakistan can ill-afford. There are no short-term fixes to the crisis, but still some steps need to be taken for immediate relief. The short-term steps that the conference pointed out were referred to as "Big Bang governance reforms, which include the much-needed step of forming a single, professional ministry for energy, which has long been the demand of many independent experts. On the circular debt issue, the focus seems to be on addressing the root cause rather than the current practise of temporarily clearing dues with the help of TFCs. PTIs plan envisages improving overall collection from 88 percent to 95 percent, by introducing reforms in discos and mechanising the system, bringing T&D losses down to 10 percent which most needs political will than any other thing, and converting over 4,500MW of FO-based power plants to much cheaper imported coal. This is expected to result in the saving of Rs.475 billion, which is nearly the amount of circular debt at present. Correcting the fuel mix is also on the list of things-to-do, which is heartening to see as imbalanced energy mix not only results in increasing circular debt but also adds to inefficiencies in the system and makes electricity an expensive commodity. The idea is to add 4,000megawatts of hydro-based generation in five years by fast-tracking stalled projects and importing from Central Asia. There is a lot more on the gas sector, pricing policies, investor incentives that were discussed in the conference. Since, it was the energy experts who were asked to develop the plan; it was by and large free of populist measures and rhetoric. PTI may or may not come into power, but there are lessons to be learnt for others who are currently in power, or next in line.