Power crisis raises questions despite high capacity

Power crisis raises questions despite high capacity

Former federal minister Gohar Ejaz has strongly criticized the ongoing electricity load shedding in Pakistan, calling it a clear sign of mismanagement in the power sector.

He expressed concern that the country continues to face prolonged outages despite having an installed power generation capacity of around 46,000 megawatts. According to him, this situation raises serious questions about how electricity distribution and load management are being handled.

Ejaz pointed out that industries are currently experiencing 2 to 4 hours of load shedding, while residential and commercial consumers are dealing with 7 to 16 hours of power outages daily. He emphasized that such conditions not only disrupt daily life but also negatively impact economic productivity and business operations.

He further revealed that the electricity shortfall has already reached approximately 4,090 megawatts at the very start of the summer season. With temperatures expected to rise between June and August, he warned that the gap between supply and demand could widen significantly, making the crisis even more severe.

Raising a critical question, Ejaz asked how the government plans to meet electricity demand during peak summer months if it is already struggling at this stage. He argued that the issue does not stem from a lack of capacity but rather from poor planning, inefficient management, and systemic failures within the power sector.

He also highlighted that the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, a relatively low-cost source of electricity, remains non-operational. According to him, bringing such projects back online could help ease the burden on the system and reduce reliance on expensive power generation.

Ejaz concluded by noting that consumers are already paying capacity charges based on the full 46,000 megawatts capability. However, they are not receiving the corresponding electricity supply, which he described as both unfair and unsustainable.

Overall, his remarks underline growing concerns that without immediate reforms and better governance, Pakistan’s energy crisis could intensify in the coming months.