‘4-hour power outages at KWSB installations daily’

With no signs of improvement in gas supply from the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), currently between 115mmcfd and 120mmcfd, and power shortage of 80MW due to shutdown of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant while the power demand of the city is still around 2,200MW, the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has decided to subject Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB)’s installations to load shedding. Starting Thursday, the KWSB would daily undergo four hours of power load shedding from 6:00 pm onwards.
The KESC said despite being the chief defaulter of the power utility with unpaid electricity bills to the tune of Rs 15.3 billion, the KWSB had been exempted from load shedding. By virtue of a sovereign guarantee, the federal government is liable for paying the KWSB’s outstanding dues in case the water board fails to pay up. The power company has requested the Finance Ministry several times to pay off KWSB’s dues of Rs 15.3 billion, but to no avail.
The power utility said the power crisis in the city is being fuelled by mismanagement of natural resources by the SSGC. If the SSGC were to adhere to the gas allocation policy in letter and spirit, the current crisis could be overcome to a large extent. Instead of giving priority to the KESC, SSGC’s largest purchaser that also pays the highest per-unit rate, the gas company chooses to keep the electricity company on the lowest rung of its supply preference.
Talking about the captive power producers, the KESC said it is ironic that the most amount of noise is being made from those quarters of the industrialists that are the least affected by load shedding. These entities are using gas to generate in-house cheap electricity for their own consumption (captive power generation), and they use KESC’s power only as standby. A certain segment of industries continues to receive gas on priority level for self-generation, which is not in line with the government’s gas allocation policy for captive power generation.