Nepra public hearing: K-Electric comes under fire over power cuts

KARACHI: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday held a public hearing on prolonged load shedding and overbilling by K-Electric in Karachi via video link.

Moonis Alvi, the chief executive officer of the city’s sole power distributor, told the power regulator (NEPRA) that load shedding won’t end any time soon. He blamed a shortage of furnace oil and gas for increased load shedding in the metropolis.

He said the power company faced a shortfall as electricity demand has risen to 3,300 megawatts while total production stands at 2,500 megawatts. He added the power distributor is trying to tackle the power issue.

Moonis Alvi said a furnace oil ship will reach Karachi on July 16, after which the power supply situation will improve.

Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi questioned why didn’t K-Electric stock furnace oil to cover a month. It’s advance preparations to tackle any such situation would have saved citizens a lot of suffering, he added. He said Nepra has failed to tackle the issue.

A citizen complained to Nepra that K-Electric instituted forged cases against denizens and has failed to upgrade its power generation and distribution system over the past 15 years. It didn’t not stock oil as per its agreement.

The Nepra chairman said K-Electric never implements the directives it is given and went to court when it was imposed a fine over electrocution deaths. He asked the K-Electric CEO why didn’t he apprise Nepra of load shedding.

A four member committee has been formed under the leadership of Director General Monitoring and Enforcement to undertake an inquiry on the matter and for this the committee will be flying from Islamabad to Karachi.

An official statement issued by NEPRA in this regard stated that the committee will submit a conclusive report on KE within a week and then next plan of action will be taken in light of the committee’s findings.