Agitated over the biased power point presentations of Ministry of Water and Power (MOWP) and its allied departments, National Assembly special committee on energy crisis took cudgels on Wednesday and directed the ministry to come straight to the point by giving reasons for the power sector crisis and its solutions.
Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB), Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) and National Energy Conservation Centre (ENERCON) gave usual presentations to the committee encompassing their efforts to expedite power generation for future. But no presentation dealt with current problems and their solution.
Firing the first salvo, Shahid Khaqan Abassi of PML-N said the special committee was formed after the failure of NA committee on water and power to address the issue, but it too was being led to the same alley as during the last five meetings of the committee, MOWP failed to quantify the reasons for persistent power crisis and its remedy.
He said if the government was aware of the problem and its solution, then it should be explained to the committee. “Don’t ask us for solutions; simply tell us the reason and its solution,” he complained to the mandarins of power sector entities.” If the government has no solution, then it is a serious issue for the committee to resolve.
Defending his team, Secretary Water and Power Imtiaz Kazi, said they did not prepare the agenda of the committee and come fully prepared to answer issues raised in the agenda. He said if the committee wants briefing on specific issues then that should be included in the agenda.
Former minister in PM Gilani’s cabinet, Ayatullah Durrani of PPP, said from experience of working in the government, he could say that there was no cooperation among various ministries which was further intensifying the crisis. Project started by MOWP is hindered by the petroleum ministry, while finance ministry leaves no stone unturned to block projects of petroleum ministry and so on. He said every ministry wants to create its own fiefdom as nobody could be held accountable.
He said at present, different ministries were competing against each other over projects of national importance, while the circular debt continues to escalate every day as the buck was being passed on to each other. He proposed there should be one energy ministry which could plan and execute projects without bothering about approvals and financing and its minister and secretary should be held accountable for not controlling the crisis.
Nawab Yusuf Talpur of PPP said there was crisis of governance in the energy sector and it should be addressed on top priority. He also supported the demand of his colleagues that the committee should only discuss the solutions.
Acceding that the power sector was mired in troubles mainly due to power theft and non recovery of dues, Secretary Imtiaz Kazi said the government was implementing power sector reforms, which no doubt were slow, but the direction was right. He said the government had planned an increase of 12 per cent in power tariff during the current fiscal year, but it got delayed due to court orders. However, he said the stay on monthly fuel price adjustment was vacated and it would be passed on to the consumers.
When Abbasi asked why rich were given subsidised tariffs for the first three hundred units, Kazi said it was difficult to determine differential tariff, as all the power generated through different fuels were poured into a single pool to determine the price. Abassi proposed the solution was simple that the rich should pay whatever the thermal power tariff was while poor should pay according to the hydel power tariff, as it would automatically induce the people to conserve energy. Kazi said circular debt was compounding the problem, which he said was resulting due to non payment of power dues by the government departments, low recovery and line losses. He said if only the government clears its dues, subsidy will be timely provided and recoveries will improve and the power sector can reach break even level. He said an expenditure of Rs2.3 billion daily was required to keep the power generation at 9,500 MW with up to six hours load shedding from the current 10 hours plus.
Abbasi asked do they have any authentic data on theft, on which the Chief Operating Officer of National Power Control Centre replied that National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) had allowed DISCOs to have line losses of 15 per cent, as compared to average losses of 19.5 per cent. He said they purchased 84 billion units in 2010 and sold 82 billion units to DISCOs. International bench mark for line losses was 10 per cent and the available fuel was only provided to most efficient power plants, he added.
