Load-shedding intensifies as power shortfall hits 5000MW

LAHORE: The electricity load shedding has intensified across major cities of Pakistan as the shortfall reached 5000MW, ARY News reported citing sources.

According to sources, the major cities including Lahore are facing up to 3 to 4 hours of unscheduled load shedding and up to 8 hours in rural areas despite low power demand in winters.

Sources said that the total power generated in country is 14500 whereas the shortfall reached 5000MW.

Sources revealed that the shortfall will further drop tomorrow as the demand was less today because of the holiday.

Despite the unscheduled loadsheding earlier the power division confessed to overbilling consumers, changing their slabs and damaged meters.

The initial report on the NEPRA investigation report revealed concerning findings, indicating that over 4.5 million consumers received bills exceeding 31 days. Additionally, a staggering 381,510 damaged meters have resulted in excessive bills.

In July, 846,468 consumers were affected as their slabs were changed with nearly, 2 lac protected consumers moved to the non-protected category.

The situation worsened in August, with over 5.574 million consumers receiving bills exceeding 31 days. A significant 825,562 power consumers were affected by changes in billing slabs during this period.

Furthermore, the Power division has criticized the NEPRA team’s process, deeming it ineffective and flawed. The report has loopholes related to quality control and data processing.