Power supply: Agreement between govt, K-Electric expires

Electricity outages may increase, Sindh seeks continuous supply.

ISLAMABAD:

The government’s plan to cut or reduce power supply to K-Electric may spark a row between the central and Sindh governments as the latter may demand a cut in gas supply from the province to other parts of the country including Punjab.

Under Article 158 of the Constitution, provinces are empowered to meet their gas needs before supplying to other provinces.

“Sindh is a major producer of gas and if it acts according to Article 158, Punjab may face acute gas shortage,” an official of the Sindh government remarked.



The agreement between the federal government and K-Electric for the supply of 650 megawatts from the national grid expired on Monday.

Sindh has already opposed the stopping of power supply to Karachi and alleges Punjab is receiving more electricity than other provinces.

Sindh also claims that it has equal rights over hydroelectric power production to meet the demand of Karachi as it is an industrial and trade hub.

“If the entire 650MW being supplied by the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) is taken off and put into the national grid, it will create more problems for Karachi,” the official said.

If this volume (650MW), which is only 4-5% of the national grid, is distributed evenly across the country, load-shedding will reduce by a mere 20 minutes while Karachi will suffer outages of eight hours every day, he added.

Furthermore, if the NTDC supply is stopped, K-Electric would need extra gas from the Sui Southern Gas Company to fully utilise its gas-based generation capacity, which could face technical constraints.

Additionally, K-Electric will be forced to buy more furnace oil, resulting in an increase in tariffs and an additional subsidy burden on the federal government.

“It may be wiser for the government to look at immediate revamping and enhancing of power production rather than adding to woes of the citizens of Karachi by curtailing the allocated quantity,” the official commented.

Gas allocation to the power sector has been cut with the passage of time and during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s government, the influential textile industry is receiving gas for its inefficient captive power plants, which was also diverted from the efficient independent power producers.

“At present, many independent power plants are either shut or running on expensive high-speed diesel. The government is tactfully generating low electricity to reduce the subsidy bill and also take credit of the cut in power price on account of fuel price adjustment,” the official said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th,  2015.

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