Agreement reached: CCI to take decision on increase in K-P’s net hydel profit

Meeting reviews progress on removing cap on province’s hydel income

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Water and Power and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government have decided to take up the latter’s demand for an increase in net hydel profit in a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) for approval.

The decision was taken in a meeting between K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, who was leading a delegation, and Federal Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Wednesday.

They discussed matters pertaining to the net hydel profit for K-P, federal government’s assistance in establishing small hydroelectric power projects in the province and assistance needed from the K-P government for recoveries from electricity defaulters and action against theft.

Inter-provincial Coordination Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Water and Power Secretary Mohammad Younus Dagha, senior officials of the Ministry of Water and Power and the Ministry of Finance were present in the meeting.

Both sides agreed to settle arrears of the net hydel profit, of which K-P put the principal at Rs47 billion owed by the federal government.

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has already increased the price of hydroelectric power, which has pushed up K-P’s net hydel profit from Rs6 to Rs18 billion per year.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Water and Power, the meeting participants expressed satisfaction over the progress on removing the cap on net hydel profit following an agreement in the previous huddle.

They praised the water and power ministry for taking the matter to Nepra for tariff determination and increase in the net hydel profit from Rs6 to Rs18 billion.

It was agreed that both the ministry and the K-P government would take the matter to the CCI - an inter-provincial body - for a final decision as required by Nepra while determining the new tariff.

They will also jointly frame a comprehensive plan for arriving at a consensus on the outstanding net hydel profit after bringing all stakeholders on board.

On the positive side, the meeting participants agreed that the K-P government would provide all assistance to the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) in recovering arrears and collecting current bills.

An effective campaign will also be launched against elements involved in power theft, which will reduce load-shedding by hours to the average duration of outages across the country.

They decided that secretary of the K-P energy department would be placed on the Pesco board of directors in order to give the provincial government more representation in affairs of the power utility.

Water and Power Minister Asif assured officials that his ministry would encourage domestic and international investors to develop small hydroelectric power projects in the province in order to ease electricity shortages across the country.

He asked the K-P chief minister to identify and discuss possible sites for these projects so that the ministry could facilitate potential investors.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2015.

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