The Standing Committee of the National Assembly has been informed that the government has ceased capacity payments to 22 independent electricity producers (PPI), resulting in a global economy of RS1.5 Billions and should relieve consumers by reducing costs of ‘Electricity from RS4 to RS5 per unit.
The meeting was followed by the secretary to the Power, Dr. Muhammad Fakhre Alam Irfan, who informed the capacity payments committee to 14 PPIs based on oil and 8 bagasse.
The secretary also mentioned that efforts are underway to terminate payments to additional PPI. The cessation of these payments should lead to substantial savings, consumers who benefit from a drop in electricity rates, he said.
Mustafa Kamal has also raised concerns about certain PPIs claiming that their agreements have been dismissed under constraint.
The secretary in power replied by saying that several PPIs had violated the terms of their contracts, and these violations were reported by the government teams. The PPIs had the opportunity to comply or cope with a financial audit of the NEPRA (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority).
He also declared that two PPIs refused to cooperate, which prompted the NEPRA to launch audits, with advertisements for audits now published for non -compliant PPI.
The meeting also discussed a question concerning the 7.8 million additional units overwhelmed against LASCO consumers (Lahore Electric Supply Company). The committee decided to form a sub-comity to investigate the question more.
Rana Mohammad Hayat, a member of the Committee, expressed his concerns about the increase in bills and the increase in spending by WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority) in the past three to four years.
He questioned the government’s response to the growing financial responsibility of the public and called for clarifications at the time when assistance will be provided to consumers. He also raised the question of the profitability of local coal in the production of electricity, requesting transparency concerning potential savings.
In response, managers of the energy division revealed that the cost of electricity production using local coal would be RS4 per unit, against RS16 per unit during the use of imported coal. The electricity produced from furnace oil costs between RS30 and RS32 per unit.
Kamal has also questioned the long -term strategy, by asking for plans for the future if coal -based power plants are faced with operational problems, especially when Hydel and thermal factories are removed in favor of coal. The secretary in power reassured the committee according to which the coal power plants can be installed in a short period of time.
In addition, the Power division makes modern forecasts for the next 10 years, providing that many power plants based on oven oil will be discovered over the next three years.
