Chilly nights: ‘Load-shedding to continue in winter’

Minister for water and power says govt not in a position to reduce power tariff

ISLAMABAD:

Despite the decrease in demand for electricity, the public would continue to face load-shedding in the winter season, said State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali while addressing a press conference.

While electricity demand has come down from 19,000 megawatts (MW) to 12,000 MW due to the change in weather, the minister said the hours-long outages would continue.

“Power load-shedding, which ranges from six to eight hours, would continue for domestic consumers during the winter season,” said State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali.



He said the government was making every effort to end load-shedding and reduce dependence on power generation through expensive sources like diesel and furnace oil. He also informed that the government was not in a position to slash power prices in the existing system of generation, where the energy mix was very poor.

Commenting on the recent increase in complaints on overbilling, the minister said the authorities would look into the matter, and if the bills are rightly over charged, the consumers will be given the facility to make payments in three installments.

“The government will select four union councils from every power distribution company (Disco) to conduct an inquiry, their results would be compared to identify the cause of overbilling,” he said.

He said the process would be completed in a week and strict action would be taken against those involved in overbilling.

“Power supply would be disconnected for defaulter institutions, from both public and private sectors. However, defence departments would be exempted,” he said, adding that electricity would only be restored upon 100% payment.

“Dues worth Rs52b are pending due to court cases,” he said.

“The government is using gas-based power plants to add 1,500 to 2,000 MW in the national grid to provide cheaper electricity to the consumers.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2014.

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