NA speaker pledges action on energy crisis recommendations

KARACHI: Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has pledged to present the recommendations of the Parliamentary Forum on Energy and Economy to the highest levels of government.

“Don’t limit your efforts to merely discussing the energy and economic crises. Provide me with practical recommendations, and I promise to take them to the senior leadership at the ministries of power and finance,” he said while addressing a seminar organised by the forum, according to a press release issued on Wednesday.

The seminar aimed to explore energy wheeling as a potential solution to Pakistan’s energy crisis. In his opening remarks, Member of the National Assembly and Co-Convenor of the forum Sher Ali Arbab highlighted that affordable and reliable electricity is a pressing concern for every Pakistani. He noted the devastating effects of high energy costs on the economy, including business closures, factory shutdowns and widespread unemployment. Arbab urged experts at the seminar to propose actionable solutions to help the country address its intertwined energy and economic crises.

Amina Shahab, a researcher at the Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED), provided a detailed overview of energy wheeling, focusing on its regulatory framework, technical challenges and practical applications. “Unless accompanied by multi-pronged reforms such as grid modernisation, regulatory changes and the protection of marginalised consumers, energy wheeling alone cannot bring substantial improvements to the energy sector,” she cautioned.

Himayatullah Khan, a former advisor to the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), shared insights on the success of the 18-megawatt Pehur hydroelectric power project in KP, which has been wheeling electricity to various industries in the province.

“This project has been running successfully for several years, supplying affordable electricity to industries that might have otherwise shut down,” he said. However, he expressed disappointment that, apart from this small pilot project, the National Electric Power

Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has not facilitated energy wheeling across the country despite approving the relevant rules and regulations nearly eight years ago. The seminar also featured a panel discussion on the critical factors affecting energy wheeling in Pakistan. The panel included Former Chairperson of Nepra Tauseef Farooqi, Grid Integration Expert Syed Faizan, Energy Systems Specialist, PRIED Shaheera Tahir, MPA Sharafat Ali Mian, and Senior Manager, MOD CPPA Farooq Qurban. The experts deliberated on the challenges and opportunities for implementing energy wheeling as a viable solution to Pakistan’s energy woes.