Change in weather and closure of offices and markets did not impact power outages as people faced 10 to 16 hours of electricity shutdown on Sunday. The Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) failed to increase power production resulting in unscheduled power outages. The power production in the last four days dropped drastically and the shortfall touched 5,000 megawatt. There was a major cut in hydel and thermal electricity production. The PEPCO claimed that the demand remained more than 18,000MW in the last four days which was quite surprising, as power demand decreased after rains.
The weather in most parts of the country has changed with two-day rains and the demand for electricity reduced but even then there was no relief for the consumers. The closure of markets, offices, banks and businesses because of the weekly holiday also reduced the power demand and still power supply was continually interrupted. The power was shut for one hour every two hours and in many areas, there was closure of more than one hour.
Besides routine power outages, there was unscheduled load shedding in all parts of the country.
The remote areas were the ones worst hit by unscheduled outages with electricity supply being suspended for five hours with a half an hour break. “There was a reduction in the use of air conditioners on Saturday as it rained almost all day thus power demand must have dropped,” said a source in the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), adding that to hide its incompetence, PEPCO was giving wrong figures. He criticised PEPCO records that showed an electricity demand of 17,890MW on a rainy day and 17,520MW on a hot day. Power production from hydel sources only improved on Saturday while it remained low on other days, said sources. Similarly, production from thermal and independent power plants (IPPs) also decreased recently. The sources said that the IPPs had decreased their production because of non-payment of dues from the PEPCO.
The consumers said that the government had failed to provide relief to people despite promises. “In the last three years, there has been no relief in power shutdown for the consumers, it has rather increased,” said Sameer Ali, a banker.
Power Saturday Friday Thursday Wednesday
Generation 12,939 13,304 13,240 14,025
Demand 17,890 17,520 18,065 18,300
Shortfall 4,951 4,216 4,815 4,275
To KESC 710 710 700 720
Hydel 5,384 5,148 5,030 5,222
Thermal 1,588 1,730 1,813 1,920
IPPs 5,884 6,343 6,297 6,785
