MANSEHRA: WAPDA Hydro Electric Union chairman Jamil Tanoli on Friday said that the newly formed Hazara Electric Supply Company would start issuing utility bills by this month.
“We have successfully bifurcated Hazesco from the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco). The Hazesco started operation on Tuesday. And we will dispatch utility bills to around one million domestic and commercial consumers starting this month,” Tanoli told reporters.
He said the separation of Hazesco from Pesco was a major milestone made possible after the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) granted licenses to allow the company to purchase, transmit and distribute electricity within its jurisdiction.
“Federal Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousuf, former deputy speaker of the National Assembly Javed Murtaza Abbasi and Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, the son-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif are constantly in touch with prime minister Shehbaz Sharif to take his time for inauguration of Hazesco anytime soon,” he added.
Tanoli said the Business Transfer Agreement between Pesco and Hazesco had officially been signed, allowing the latter to operate financially and administratively from the ongoing financial year.
“Despite facing several challenges, we are prioritising the resolution of prolonged power outages in Hazara and ensuring uninterrupted supply to commercial units by creating more grid stations across the division,” he added.
He maintained that work on a 132kV grid station in Mansehra would begin soon.
With Hazesco now fully operational, he said, thousands of locals from grades 1 to 16 would be appointed across the division.
He urged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawmakers to ensure that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announces Rs10 billion for the acquisition of land and construction of the Hazesco headquarters, either on Wapda’s land along Murree Road in Abbottabad or on the Hazara Expressway in Mansehra.