NEPRA says will take action on Karachi’s load-shedding

Power regulator decides to evaluate K-Electric’s performance in wake of recent events

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has decided to take action on the frequent tripping of network and extended load-shedding in Karachi.

Previously, in June 2015, Nepra took note of adversity of circumstances leading to extended load-shedding, system failure and power supply breakdown in the service territory of K-Electric and constituted a fact-finding committee to submit report on the aforementioned failures.



Based on the recommendation of the committee, the authority then issued a show cause notice to K-Electric under Section 28 and 29 of the NEPRA Act for violation of terms and conditions of its licences.

After giving an opportunity of hearing to K-Electric, Nepra passed an order on March 25, 2016 and imposed a fine of Rs5 million for failure to provide uninterrupted power supply to its consumers on non-discriminatory basis and not restoring the system within the prescribed timelines.

Furthermore, a fine of Rs5 million was imposed for underutilisation of power plants.

Last year, Nepra initiated proceedings against K-Electric along similar lines to protect the interests of consumers and ensure compliance with prudent utility practices and performance standards under the NEPRA Act.

Being the licencee under the NEPRA Act, K-Electric is bound to provide reliable and uninterrupted electric power services to all its consumers within its service territory. Therefore, considering recent media reports regarding unplanned extended hours of load-shedding and tripping, the regulatory body has decided to verify the implementation status of directions as well as performance standards of K-Electric.



For this purpose, the authority has decided to nominate the team of its professionals who shall monitor and verify load-shedding in different areas of Karachi, especially during Sehr and Iftar times, along with current generation capacity of the company, its utilisation and the frequency of tripping of generating plants and transmission/distribution networks.

The team shall collect data and submit its report to Nepra to proceed further in accordance with the law.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2017.

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