Power struggle: LESCO recoveries fall as line losses increase

Government payments fall short by Rs509 million.

LAHORE:

The Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) has collected 17.49 per cent less from public organisations and the general public in the month of February as compared to collections of the same period last year.

The government has taken steps to curb electricity theft but line losses have increased by one per cent, according to documents made available to Express News.

Lesco reportedly issued bills of Rs17,934 million in this period. These included Rs1,171 million in bills to government departments and Rs16,762 million to general consumers.

Of these amounts, Rs14,527 million was recovered including Rs662 million from the government and Rs13,865 million from the general public – the government’s payments thus fell short by Rs509 million, while the public owes Rs2,897 million.

In February, 2013, Lesco issued bills of Rs635 million to government departments and of Rs10,088 million to the general public. It received Rs850 million from the government and Rs9,710 million from general consumers.

According to the documents, Lesco purchased 1161.17m units in February 2014 and sold 1099.61m of that.

The line losses in February 2014 remained at 5.3 per cent while they were calculated at 4.3 per cent in 2013.

According to sources, Lesco did not carry out advance maintenance work despite a confirmed load in winter and did not install a single transformer in this period. As a result, consumers may face severe fluctuations in power supply during the summer.

Sources added that the assignment of tenders for the purchase of new transformers to favoured parties has been challenged in court and transformers cannot be purchased in the Lesco circle.

Lesco also could not assign tenders for the repair of transformers as officers involved had sought commissions, sources said. Therefore, consumers in Lahore, Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahab are likely to face severe problems in the supply of power.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2014.