PM given misleading figures for summer load-shedding plan

Secretary put planned outages at up to 4 hours a day for Apr-Sept, far lower than current 16 hours

ISLAMABAD: The water and power secretary predicted that electricity outages would not exceed four hours a day across the country during warmer months from April to September this year, apparently misleading the prime minister as load-shedding had gone up to 16 hours due to scorching heat.



Already, a secretary of the Ministry of Water and Power has been shown the door for painting a rosy picture of expected load-shedding this summer before Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Now, the new secretary Naseem Khokhar has also come up with misleading figures. In a high-level meeting held on April 10, he told the premier that average daily duration of load-shedding would be four hours in urban areas and three hours in rural areas from April to September 2017.

Only for April and May, the outages will be for four hours a day in rural areas and six hours in urban areas, he said.

However, contrary to these claims, consumers are currently facing 8 to 16 hours of blackouts across the country.

In a tweet on Wednesday afternoon, Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif claimed that electricity demand stood at 19,405 megawatts and production at 13,575MW, showing a shortfall of 5,830MW.

A day earlier, estimates suggested that the gap between demand and supply of electricity had widened to more than 7,000MW.

The prime minister dismissed a plan of eight-hour load-shedding for the industry in the upcoming Ramazan, which was proposed with the objective of providing electricity without any interruption for domestic consumers during the month.

Voicing concern over the sudden increase in load-shedding, the premier said earlier commitment and assurances about restricted outages were not met.

Very firm commitment had been given by the previous water and power secretary that the duration of load-shedding in summer would be four hours in rural areas and three hours in urban areas, he said.

Moreover, he termed eight hours of outages for the industrial sector, proposed by the Ministry of Water and Power, unjustified, which would harm the industrial base.

The water and power secretary was of the view that a fall in hydroelectric power generation because of water shortage in reservoirs would aggravate the situation and a rise in temperature would further increase the demand for electricity.

He suggested that the Ministry of Water and Power should coordinate with the Meteorological Office in order to frame a proper load management plan for the summer.



According to the secretary, around 4,400MW had been added to the system since 2013.

However, a quantum jump would be required to eliminate load-shedding, a feat which was expected to be achieved by the end of 2017 when large projects would come online.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2017.

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