Employees in the power sector receive 6,000 free electricity rupees each month, the Minister of Energy, Awais Leghari, revealed on Wednesday, while the government explores the legal paths to end the privilege.
Addressing journalists in Islamabad, Leghari said that the government could not currently stop free electricity for employees in the electricity and generation division due to continuous legal affairs.
“We approached the prosecutor’s office to accelerate the resolution of these cases so that we can end free electricity,” he said.
Leghari proposed to increase wages to replace free benefits and noted that the government is working on strategies to provide an excess electricity at lower rates.
Discussing the measurement of the solar net, the minister warned that he had imposed an additional burden of 103 billion rupees on regular consumers.
“As the solarization increases, financial pressure on ordinary consumers increases, because we are forced to buy costly electricity thanks to the net measurement,” he said.
The government, he added, aims to guarantee that net measurement investors recover their costs within four years while managing the impact on general consumers.
GOVT at surplus electricity auction at industries
Leghari announced the government’s plan on surplus electricity on the industries on Tuesday. This initiative, aimed at stimulating industrial growth and creating employment possibilities, was detailed in a press release by the Ministry of Energy on Tuesday.
According to the press release, Leghari stressed that the surplus of electricity would be made available in a competitive manner to maximize the advantages for the economy and the industrial sector.
The Minister also underlined the national electric vehicle policy (EV), which aims to promote the adoption of electric vehicles across Pakistan.
He said that the electricity prices for EV load stations had been considerably reduced to make the VEs more affordable and accessible.
This stage, he said, aligns the government’s vision to promote sustainable energy solutions and reduce the environmental impact.
