Power theft shakes LESCO to the core
The Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) has reported daily power theft of 3 million units, resulting in the theft of 270 million units over the past three months.
A LESCO document revealed that the stolen electricity is valued at more than Rs16.2 billion. Despite efforts, poor management and political interference have hindered efforts to curb the theft.
Sources revealed that incompetent officials have been appointed to key positions on the recommendations of ministers and MNAs, while officers who take action against influential electricity thieves have been side-lined.
The rising line losses and inefficiencies have set new records in LESCO, exposing the poor performance of the administration. Between July and September 2024, LESCO's progressive losses surged to 15.40%, up from 12.20% during the same period last year, marking a 3.2% increase in losses due to rising electricity theft.
Political meddling and favouritism in appointments have shaken the organisation, with assembly members and ministers appointing their preferred SDOs, XENs, and SEs in their constituencies to protect their interests.
Some lawmakers have even influenced the appointments of line superintendents and meter readers in the outskirts of Lahore.
Officers who attempted to crack down on major electricity thieves have been side-lined, replaced by weaker officials appointed through political connections. This has not only demoralised competent officers but also emboldened the electricity thieves.
Weak administrative leadership within LESCO has resorted to filing bogus cases for point-scoring rather than targeting major electricity thieves. As a result, despite overbilling practices, LESCO's losses continue to grow, with 270 million units stolen in just three months.
A LESCO spokesperson denied any political interference, claiming that all activities are conducted professionally, with strict action taken against electricity thieves and any employees facilitating them. A spokesperson for the LESCO said the company has taken action against more than 140,000 electricity thieves since September 2023.
Additionally, 121 LESCO employees involved in facilitating electricity theft have also faced disciplinary measures.
A total of Rs5.49 billion in fines has been imposed on electricity thieves, with Rs3.14 billion successfully recovered.
Despite these efforts, line losses at LESCO have continued to increase, attributed not only to electricity theft but also to poor governance, system upgrades, load management issues, and the lack of annual maintenance on power lines.
Over the past two seasons, the company's maintenance efforts have primarily focused on cutting trees, rather than replacing faulty cables or adding new transformers, which was previously a key part of the annual maintenance drive.
This has led to criticisms that maintenance is now more of a "photo op" than a real effort to improve infrastructure.
Additionally, the electricity theft and defaulter recovery campaign has been ongoing for over a year, but experts argue that LESCO's efforts have been insufficient given the company's size.
As the largest distribution company in the country, selling up to 5,000 megawatts of electricity, LESCO's performance in tackling theft has been underwhelming.
In the past three months alone, Rs16.2 billion worth of electricity was stolen, while the company imposed fines totaling only Rs5.5 billion for the entire year. Of this, just Rs3.5 billion was recovered, highlighting weak management and ineffective measures to address the issue.