The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has raised doubts over the calculations of the capital’s civic agency, which claims that around 33,000 street lights in Islamabad consume 1.8 million units of electricity per month.
According to Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials, the civic agency made the calculation based on its own estimates but the figure still requires formal endorsement from Iesco.
Currently, Iesco claims streetlights in the capital collectively consume 3.7 million units of electricity and the authority is billed using this estimate.
Recently, Iesco refused to restore power supply to CDA headquarters after it was suspended for non-payment of dues amounting to nearly Rs2 billion. The federal water and power secretary had to intervene and ask both parties to settle the dispute through mutual understanding.
A committee with representation from the CDA and Iesco was formed to help solve the monetary dispute.
“According to the initial arrangement, the accounts were reconciled. It was agreed that CDA will pay Rs900 million to Iesco on account of outstanding bills up to June 2013,” said CDA Engineering Member Shahid Sohail. It was also agreed that following that month, the authority would be billed for the mutually-agreed number of streetlights.
He said Rs300 million was paid at once while it was decided that the remaining Rs600 million will be paid in equal instalments within a period of 18 months.
Sohail said it was decided, subject to a joint survey of streetlights in the city, that the CDA will be charged against 1.8 million electricity units rather 3.7 million on account of consumption by streetlights.
He said the CDA has been awaiting Iesco’s response on the formation of a joint survey team.
He said-she said
However, a senior Iesco official who was part of the negotiations said it is the authority’s own stance that it should be charged for 1.8 million units and that no such understanding exists between the two departments.
He said the joint survey of streetlights would begin in the next few days.
The CDA engineering member said after Iesco representatives failed to hold a joint survey, the authority’s electrical and mechanical wing carried out the calculation and generated a figure for Sector F-6.
“We asked Iesco to crosscheck the figure and verify it but neither did they participate in the counting exercise nor are they verifying the CDA’s findings,” Sohail said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2014.
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