The Prime Minister is calling a meeting on the energy sector today to discuss theft and power outages

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting on the power sector today (Tuesday) in the wake of rising electricity theft and power outages that lasted up to 12 hours in the country.

A meeting of all power sector stakeholders has been convened on Tuesday to discuss the issue of increased load shedding and electricity theft, an official source told The Nation. Urban areas of the country face load shedding lasting up to 6 hours, while rural areas experience power outages ranging from 8 to 12 hours.

Energy production was 19,800 megawatts and demand was 26,000 megawatts. The shortfall is approximately 6,200 megawatts. Interestingly, in the current fiscal year, XWDiscos are paying over Rs 1.8 trillion as capacity charges to IPPs due to low demand. However, during the summer season, distribution companies are unable to supply electricity to consumers.

The country’s transmission capacity is currently 26,000 MW and the existing demand can be easily met. The other main issue raised at the meeting is electricity theft and lower energy recovery, which clearly cannot be controlled by existing measures. In the current financial year 2023-2024, electricity theft and lower recoveries are estimated to have resulted in losses of around Rs590 billion.