The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Power Distribution Improvement Program (PDIP) today kicked off a series of training workshops aimed at improving the commercial procedures and efficiency of power distribution companies (DISCOs). The subjects under discussion will include the metre reading process and metre change process and finding ways to improve DISCOs’ existing procedures by streamlining the flow of documents and eliminating redundancies without compromising transparency and accountability.
The PDIP has been actively involved with similar trainings of the DISCO staff in various areas, including IT training programmes active in eight cities that will complete the training of 500 DISCO professionals in September. “Improved commercial procedures and understanding the benefits of adhering to them can lead to better utilisation and that will provide improved revenue, reduce non-technical losses and increase customer satisfaction for the DISCO,” said USAID PDIP Chief of Party Dick Dumford. “The objective of PDIP is to assist DISCOs in improving their work which can only be possible if they consistently and constantly build the capacity of staff and adopt modern utility practices,” he said.
The trainings are organised as part of the US commitment to support Pakistan in reforming the energy sector and improving the performance of DISCOs. The USAID organises these assistance programs, which also support the completion of dams, renovation of power plants, and introduction of more efficient technologies to reduce energy use in the agriculture sector. MWP-USAID PDIP (PDIP) is a three-year USAID-funded programme aimed at working jointly with government-owned electric power Distribution Companies (DISCOs) in Pakistan to improve their performance in terms of reduction of losses, and improvement in revenues and customer services, to bring them at par with the well-run utilities in other progressive countries. Through this programme, the US Government will provide assistance and support to the Government of Pakistan in its efforts to reform the power sector and end the current energy crisis.