Power trip: Raiwind exempted from power cuts, says Lesco

Two feeders were installed in area for uninterrupted supply, distribution company tells senate panel.

ISLAMABAD:

A senior official of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) told the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power on Monday that no VIP is exempted from load-shedding in Lahore, except the residents of Raiwind, where two feeders have been installed to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

He said Raiwind was given double feeders because the prime minister and the chief minister live there, adding that other than that, no VIP office, including the Chief Minister Secretariat, CM House, Governor House and Punjab Assembly building, is exempted from loadshedding.

The official also gave a rundown of the outstanding dues, which included Rs524 million the provincial government owes and Rs500 million that departments of the federal government need to pay to Lesco. He, however, added that there is no outstanding duesagainst Governor House, CM House and Assembly Secretariat.

But, the Lesco official said, Rs2.27 billion is outstanding against the Town Municipal Administration (TMA), Lahore, due to which electricity for the streetlights have been disconnected. He also stated that at least 33% line losses prevail in the Lesco system.

No VIP office exempted

Officials from Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco) told the Senate panel that except for hospitals and the high court building, no VIP office has been exempted from loadshedding. However, they added that special generators are being provided for important VIP events to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

A Pesco official said that there is only one feeder installed in any VIP office in the province. According to him, various government departments in Peshawar are defaulters of Rs1 billion to Wapda of which Rs500 million were received recently following the disconnection drive.

No double feeder for VIPs

The Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (Iesco) managing director also said that there is no double feeder in any VIP building, adding that all government departments started paying their dues after the disconnection drive.

He informed the committee that recovery has begun after the notices issued during the drive and Rs619 million have been received during last week.

The Iesco managing director claimed that CDA is the distribution company’s largest defaulter with an outstanding payment of Rs2.13 billion.

Meanwhile, the Qesco managing director also briefed the committee, saying that the highest outstanding amount of Rs80 billion is against the provincial and federal governments under the head of tube well bills.

K-P tariff rate

The committee chairman rejected the recent increase in the power tariff for consumers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) under the head of fuel adjustment charges. He asked the K-P chief minister to take the issue to the CCI in light of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2014.