A parliamentary panel while expressing serious concerns over massive power load-shedding in Balochistan said on Tuesday that only 240 megawatts of electricity are being supplied to the domestic consumers of the province.
Senator Fida Mohammad while presiding over the Senate Standing Committee on Power said that the people of Balochistan are facing serious problems owing to the ongoing power load-shedding. The panel directed the concerned quarters to ensure sufficient power supply to the poor people of Balochistan.
Fida said that 240MW of electricity are being provided to Balochistan at present, which is very low against total demand and it has added to the miseries of the people.
Senators especially from Balochistan said that the domestic consumers in most parts of the province are facing acute low voltage of power as well as hours long load-shedding. They said that agriculture in Balochistan totally depends on the provision of adequate power which is essential to operate tube wells to supply water to the various crops.
The senators said that the officials of the Quetta Electricity Supply Company and the Ministry of Energy, Power Division, are making excuses that power bills are not being paid by the domestic consumers in Balochistan. The committee members said that government can adopt appropriate means to collect the bills from people as there are no more no-go areas in Balochistan.
The chairman committee said although there are issues of recovery of bills in Balochistan but these issues could be solved by adopting proper way. Senator Sardar Shafique has strongly protested over the attitude of KESCO chief and said that officer was not ready to listen to the issues of common people.
Senator Sardar Shafique Tareen protested over the statement of the Qesco chief and said that the official has insulted the House. The chairman committee also warned the Qesco chief and said such an irresponsive attitude is too dangerous.
The Qesco chief and other officials briefing the meeting said that almost 80 percent consumers in Balochistan are not paying the power bills as a result the government is forced to not supply power to such areas where bill recoveries are below a certain standard.
Senator Nouman Wazir Khattak said that independent power producers (IPPs) are receiving huge amount of Rs 422 billion annually on account of capacity payments.
Khattak said that guaranteed rate of return was 17 percent for independent power producers (IPPs) but according to balance sheet of power plants, they were receiving 40 per cent rate of return. He further said that government should initiate probe against National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) for allowing different cost for different projects. The cost of some projects has been allowed at $0.5 million per MW, some $1 million and some projects at $1.5 million, he maintained.
Khattak said that power producers had given manipulated figures about the consumption of fuel during time of submitting business plan to the government. These power plants were not receiving money according to heat rate and therefore were making exorbitant rate of return, he added. The government should ink agreement without condition of capacity charges and power plants should receive money for the electricity they generate, he suggested.
The general manager Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) briefing the meeting said that PEPCO board has constituted a committee on the issue of payments to IPPs, adding that so far 80 percent funds for IPPs have been released while rest 20 percent would soon be released.
He said although there are problems of recovery, but if appropriate procedure is adopted, people will be willing to pay electricity bill. The committee suggested that the authorities must fix a viable power tariff for the domestic power consumers of Balochistan.
Officials of the K-Electric said that in the light of the recommendations of the committee, the senior company officials have started holding open forums at various places in the Karcahi to listen to the problems being faced by the power consumers and address their problems.
The panel also grilled the Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) for providing power connections to various housing colonies in the federal capital which do not have no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
The IESCO officials informed the panel that the civic body was not issuing NOC to some housing societies owing to the Supreme Court orders, ongoing inquiries in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Power Division's directives.
The committee members said that power supply was a basic human needs and it should not be attached with any NOC was against human rights.
Senators including Siraj-ul-Haq, Muhammad Akram, Nouman Wazir, Dilawart Khan, Sinah Jamali and Sardar Shafique Tareen attended the meeting.
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