ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has taken serious notice of transformer blast in Hyderabad which claimed seven lives with 15 injured including two linemen. The regulator issued a statement on Friday saying that it has taken serious notice of transformer blast and sought report from the concerned officials so that action maybe taken against those responsible.

Every year, Nepra evaluates Discos' performance and releases its assessment report, but rarely takes action against them for not investing in improving the system.

An energy sector expert on condition of anonymity said that Nepra has never held Power Division or Pepco, responsible for not allowing Discos to invest in their systems as per the investment plan which is part of tariffs. However, when ever any such unfortunate incident takes place, Nepra issues a statement, just for public consumption.

In a statement issued by Hesco spokesperson, the reason for the explosion was overloading of 200 KV transformer installed in Latifabad area. The spokesperson maintained that the Hesco staff was present at the site. As the jumpers were attached and load given to the system, the transformer exploded.

A couple of days ago Power Division suspended Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) for failure to manage the power outages in the Faisalabad region due to rain on Eid day. Minister for Energy, Hammad Azhar , who claimed that CEO has been suspended on the recommendation of Fesco's BoD, said that a separate inquiry will be held.

Power Division has adopted different standards in different cases with respect to implementation of decisions by the Boards of Discos. This can be gauged from the fact that recently, Iesco BoD approved appointment of acting CEO Tahir but Power Division resisted the decision and did not issue the notification.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021