Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif said on Friday that a consensus would be evolved on water and power issues among all provinces.
He was talking to journalists here after a meeting to discuss amendments in the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Act and the flood protection plan. He said that significant progress had been made in the process to amend the NEPRA Act and the 10-year flood protection plan.
Another meeting will be convened to ultimately address concerns of all provinces, he added. The minister said that amendments to the NEPRA Act, allocation of funds for the 10-year flood protection plan, and national water policy were reviewed in the meeting. He said it was the first meeting on the directives of Council of Common Interests (CCI).
It was mutually agreed that the NEPRA law would be amended in order to ensure efficient and reliable power systems so as to improve the country’s energy security.
This would require modernization of the regulatory framework and the development of NEPRA into an institution which meets the highest standards of independence which are granted to electricity regulators globally.
The representatives of the federal and provincial governments agreed to the measures introduced for strengthening the composition and regulatory powers of NEPRA, including the introduction of better qualification criteria for the chairman and provincial nominees in the authority.
At the same time, indemnities for acts done in good faith have also been proposed to strengthen the decision making and independence of NEPRA, while empowering them with strong tools of regulatory enforcement such as the power to undertake investigations and impose penalties for violations of the laws governing the electricity sector.
These powers did not previously exist in the NEPRA Act itself.
Moreover, in order to achieve the common objective of the Federal and Provincial Governments to move towards a competitive electricity market regime, a consensus was developed on de-licensing generation while at the same time making provisions for licensing in areas of trading and retail of electric power.
In order to reduce the burden of litigation on the civil courts, an appellate tribunal comprising of technical and financial members, and chaired by a former High Court judge has also been recommended, which is expected to provide independent, speedy and efficient relief to persons aggrieved by an order of NEPRA.
For enhancing transparency of regulation to better serve consumer interests, the requirement of the declaration of direct and indirect conflicts of interests by the members and chairman of the authority, as well as the employees of NEPRA have also been inserted.
It was agreed that further discussions on the language of the draft would be held at a technical level for consensus building on the text of the proposed amendments, and include proposals of the provincial governments.
The consensus draft is proposed to be submitted to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) for approval under the constitution and will then be presented before the parliament.
Asif said there was no disagreement between the ministry and NEPRA. Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri said that Balochistan was with the centre on some issues. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak said that he had conveyed KP assembly’s concerns to the federal government.
Chief ministers of KP and Balochistan and the chief secretaries of Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan, also attended the meeting.