The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat that it has the authority to take over K-Electric and its management if the issue of load-shedding in Karachi is not resolved immediately.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat met with Rana Muhammad Hayat Khan in the chair here at Parliament House. The committee discussed the unprecedented electricity load-shedding in Karachi, inquiry report on Grand Hyatt Hotel Islamabad, slums in the federal capital and various bills in the meeting.
Nepra Vice Chairman Saif Ullah Chattha told the committee that Karachi is facing 600MW shortfall of electricity. He said that K-Electric is supplying 2200MW electricity, of which 1100MW is through its own generation while it is getting 650MW from National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) and rest of electricity from an independent power producer (IPP).
He said that residential and industrial areas of Karachi are facing four to ten-hour load-shedding daily, which is very serious situation. He said that NEPRA has the authority to impose penalty on K-Electric and can even take over K-Electric under the law. He said that NEPRA can impose a fine from Rs 0.5 million to Rs 100 million. He said that Nepra has imposed Rs 10 million and Rs 6 million fines on K-Electric.
He said that K-Electric produced 12 billion units of electricity in a year and earned around Rs 10 billion. Committee Chairman Rana Muhammad Hayat said, "If Nepra can take over K-Electric then it should do so."
The Nepra vice chairman said there is an arrangement, not an agreement, between K-Electric and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) for gas supply. He said that under this arrangement, SSG should provide 180mmcf to 190mmcf gas to K-Electric but it is supplying only 100 mmcf gas.
Committee member Asad Umar of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said that there is also a reason of cash flow. He said that K-Electric can produce electricity through furnace oil but it is not doing so. He said that K-Electric can also produce electricity on re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) and it can get it from Port Qasim, which is only one mile away from it. The Nepra vice chairman said that K-Electric has no RLNG contract.
Another committee member Ali Raza Abidi said that K-Electric has earned a Rs 58 billion profit.
After the discussion, the committee asked the K-Electric to start a power plant of 180MW from furnace oil which has been closed and gas should be supplied immediately to generate electricity for the people of Karachi. The committee also recommended that K-Electric should make RLNG contract for additional supply of gas.
The committee appreciated the performance of Nepra and directed that the power regulator Nepra should take stringent measures to keep proper check & balance on K-Electric to stop the unscheduled load-shedding in Karachi and come up with proposals so that the committee could take them up at an appropriate forum for amicable solution of the issue.
Earlier, the committee unanimously approved (i) ''The Pakistan Rights of Persons with Disability Bill, 2017'' (moved by Shaista Pervaiz, MNA), (ii) ''The Compulsory Drug Test of Students Bill, 2018'' (moved by Asiya Naz Tanoli, MNA) and (iii) ''The Prevention of Drugs in Educational Institutions Bill, 2018'' (moved by Shahida Rehmani, MNA).
The committee expressed strong displeasure over unnecessary delay in finalizing the case of Grand Hyatt Hotel, Islamabad, and directed that FIA may pursue the case effectively for early adjudication so that culprits could be penalized without any further delay.
The committee also directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to allow construction of double-storey buildings under the House Building Laws in slums (Kachi Abadies) which had been legalized by the CDA to fulfill residents'' domestic needs and report to the committee in its next meeting.
The committee directed the Capital Administration and Development Division (CA&DD) to take measures for issuance of an ordinance to resolve the issue of affectees of E-12 sector, Islamabad, and if it is not possible, a bill may be introduced in the Parliament so that the issue could be resolved without any further delay.