We have a huge electricity problem. There isnt enough of it. And it gets worse every successive year. At the time, there is a spot of load shedding because there isnt enough water for our hydro-electric power plants. Soon, though the quantum of electricity produced would increase because of the summers waters, the demand would have also increased. In a much greater proportion. Expect some protests.
When the government pins some of the blame of the electricity crisis on the previous government by saying the latter did not increase the productive capacity of the national grid, it is both right and wrong, depending on how one looks at it. Wrong, because the previous government didnt need to; we have a greater capacity than we need. Right, because we just dont have a capacity to produce electricity cheaply enough. Our power production profile is a mix of the hydel, the thermal and the rest. With greater dependence on thermal, our productive costs increase with increases in the costs of international oil prices. The circular debt in the power sector, which has swollen to a whopping Rs 230 billion by about now, threatens to bring much to a grinding halt. As it is, there are some rather impressive power plants across the land that are lying inactive on account of non-payment of dues.
There is much interest in the media about cutting down on transmission losses. This interest can be attributed to the fact that this approach would not appear to entail an increase in the tariffs either. This is wrong. Though the induction of more professional and proactive managers at the DisCos wouldnt hurt, cutting down on transmission losses would entail considerable maintenance work. And that requires cash. There is just no way to get around spending money. If the PML(N)s 10-point agenda doesnt also cut the government some slack on the issue of phasing out electric subsidies, perhaps it has resigned itself to the fact that it will never get the federal government again. Because increasing the tariff, or phasing out the subsidies, is a tough step that any government would be forced to make.