ISLAMABAD: Power Division Secretary Rashid Mehmood Langrial has stated that the government has allocated Rs976 billion for the power sector.

While briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy (Power Division), he said those consumers who are consuming up to 200 units are protected.

The committee members expressed their serious concern over the increase in power tariff, adding that electricity bills are beyond the affordability of the consumers. Saira Bano stated people are unable to pay electricity bills, adding that the per unit electricity prices have been increased exorbitantly.

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Secretary Power Division also clarified that he has not opposed Rs2.7 billion Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) schemes for village electrification rather he had taken the summary to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet for approval.

He added that the summary was approved by the ECC and funds for these schemes have also been released. The secretary added that usually, village electrification schemes lead to an increase in the loss and Power Division submitted this viewpoint to the ECC. The committee members also pointed out that power theft in the power sector was not possible without the connivance of the officials.

The committee has also taken up the matter regarding reported corruption on the pretext of new electricity connections and the non-availability of electricity meters in newly-developed sectors of Islamabad.

The representatives from the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) said that the new electricity connections in the developing areas of the Federal Capital were being provided subject to NOC by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in order to ensure that the connections were being provided to the legitimized entities only.

It was also informed that no further electricity meters could be installed in the housing societies and colonies that had not been cleared by CDA due to any irregularities.

The representatives from the Ministry of Energy, Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO), and Guddu Power Plant briefed the Committee in detail regarding the hurdles in energizing of 11kV Barrage Feeder from 132kV/11kV switchyard Guddu.

The committee was informed that the 11kV switchgear located in the premises of 132kV switchyard of Guddu Power Plant, has almost completed its life and due to the weakening of insulation material and inadequate cooling system, its load had been restricted to less than 500 Amperes to reduce its failure risks.

The committee was informed initially, an exclusive power line from the said switchgear to 11kV Barrage Feeder was dedicated to feed Guddu Barrage.

However, later on, the said feeder had been further extended by SEPCO to cater to its consumers without strengthening or extending the feed system.

The ministry further explained that there was also a need of study to be conducted by NESPAK to assess the situation for a feasible solution that should ensure the government’s decision of keeping the Guddu Power Plant risk-free, subsequent to blackout of January 2023.

After discussions, the committee recommended that the 11kV switchgear on Guddu Power Plant be handed over to the SEPCO so that a dedicated feed to Guddu Barrage could be restored to energize 11kV Guddu Barrage Feeder.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023