Energy Minister announces end of load management across the country

Energy Minister Awais Leghari announced on Friday the end of load management across the country following the arrival of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes.

In a video message posted on the minister’s X account, Leghari recalled that about two weeks ago, consumers faced load shedding due to a gas shortage. On April 13 and 14, up to five hours of load shedding had to be carried out. On the other hand, there was no load management from April 17 to 19, while from April 19 to 29, load shedding was reduced to two to two and a half hours.

He said the recent electricity shortfall and planned load shedding earlier this month were not due to a technical failure or inability to generate electricity, but to temporary fuel supply constraints.

“After six to seven years, when the Nawaz Sharif government stopped load shedding, this is happening for the first time,” he said.

He said the gas shortage was caused by disruptions in LNG supplies amid the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran, noting that expensive alternative fuels such as diesel and heating oil could have been used to eliminate load shedding, but this would have imposed an additional financial burden on consumers.

He said the country had been forced to rely on expensive alternatives such as diesel and heating oil to meet demand, warning that this would have led to higher electricity costs for consumers.

The minister said additional supplies of gas, purchased at spot price, had arrived. The minister added that hydropower generation had increased significantly from around 1,000 megawatts to 6,000 MW, helping to improve supply levels.

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The minister said LNG cargoes had now reached Pakistan, thereby improving the availability of fuel for power plants. “After this, the load shedding is now over,” he said, expressing hope that the country would no longer face scheduled outages.

He also rejected claims of a shortage of installed capacity, saying Pakistan’s total generating capacity was around 32,000 MW, not 46,000 MW as some critics claimed. He added that hydropower production varied seasonally, affecting overall supply.

He said the government needed to operate oil-fired factories to make up the deficit, but efforts would continue to protect consumers from costly electricity. “With timely measures, we hope that the public will not face load shedding in the coming days,” he added.

The country faces a worsening electricity crisis, with an overall electricity deficit reaching 6,500 MW, leading to prolonged power outages in several regions and growing frustration among the population.

“After April 1, the supply of LNG from abroad stopped and Qatar declared force majeure. From that day on, a significant gap emerged in meeting the requirements that were previously met at peak times through gas-fired power plants,” the Energy Minister had said at a press conference on April 16.

On April 14, the Electricity Division announced that due to increased demand for electricity during peak hours, electricity would be suspended for approximately 2.25 hours per day between 5 p.m. and 1 a.m. across the country, as part of its “peak relief strategy.”

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However, in both urban and rural areas, consumers have reported outages far beyond the limited “load management” described by authorities. In remote districts, power outages lasting up to 12 hours, and in some cases up to 16 hours, have effectively brought daily life to a halt.

“The aim of this load management is to reduce the use of expensive fuels and to avoid an increase in electricity prices,” the electricity division had said.

Since growing tensions between the United States and Iran in the Middle East led to a spike in oil prices, the government has increased fuel prices by more than 50%.

The United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran in February, after which Tehran retaliated with strikes and closed the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global oil supplies and triggering a sharp rise in international oil prices.

Faced with rising prices, the government twice increased the prices of petroleum products during the first week of March, noting that these increases exceeded the increase in the international market. However, the most significant increase was seen in April this year.

Last month, the government increased the price of petrol by Rs 137 per liter, taking it to a record high of Rs 458.4. However, a few days later, the Prime Minister, in a televised address, announced a reduction of Rs 80 per liter in the oil tax on petrol, bringing its price down to Rs 378 per litre.

Last week, the government again increased prices of high-speed diesel and petrol by Rs 26.77 per liter despite no corresponding increase in international rates, as it imposed an additional levy of nearly Rs 27 per liter on fuel to push up prices.

Barely a week later, it again increased prices of petroleum products on Thursday, bringing them down to nearly Rs 400 per litre.