Power problems

The arrival of winter is considered to be a time of some relief for Pakistanis. While gas outages are frequent, there is usually a reduction in power outages, coinciding with the reduction in domestic demand. This winter has not been so kind. Power outages have returned to haunt the public, particularly in Punjab. Technical faults and smog have been cited as the rationale for four power plants tripping on Wednesday to cause loadshedding across Punjab. On Thursday, things became more severe as Sindh was also gripped by loadshedding. Power officials initially claimed that the tripping of the Guddu, Balloki, Nishat and Nishat Chunniyan power plants led to an official power shortage of 250MW. A day later, officials claimed that the power outages were 750MW. However, actual power outages across the province were higher. Many areas reported up to 12 hours of loadshedding per day.

The power outages this week have led to questions about the management of the power crisis in the country. On paper, in terms of power generation capacity Pakistan appears to have solved the issue of supply. The installed capacity for electricity production is around 34,000MW. However, the installed capacity does not translate into actual power supply, due to a range of issues in the transmission system as well as the recurring problem of circular debt.

What is alarming is how high the circular debt has reached. From hovering around Rs400 billion in 2008, the Public Accounts Committee has been told that the circular debt in the country has now reached Rs755 billion. Pakistan’s actual energy consumption per capita is lower than other regional rivals, such as India and Bangladesh. Our power sector is in need of serious and thought-through reform. The approach of the current government is still not clear, despite its talk of ending circular debt and making the power sector financially sustainable again.

The outages this winter are a reminder that the issues in the power sector cannot be solved by merely increasing electricity tariffs, which is the only concrete measure that the government has taken. The transmission grid remains in need of serious updating if smog can trigger four power plants to trip in a time of low demand. The issue of smog causing power failure recurs every year, and there is no justification for this lack of preparation on the part of the power officials. This is an area which needs serious investment and planning by the government, going beyond the one-step solutions in vogue. While the PML-N government chose to focus on power generation, the current PTI government is focusing on pricing. Neither could offer a solution to the many woes that plague the power sector. The government would be well-advised to take the power outages in winter as an indicator, unless it wants to face another summer of chronic power failures and an angry public.