Imran Khan directs Power Division to save consumers from load management
Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan this week directed Power Division to employ technology to save paying consumers from load-management in low recovery grids.
Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired 48th meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) here.
The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Hammad Azhar, Dr. Fehmida Mirza, Asad Umar, Shaukat Fayaz Tareen, Dr. Farogh Naseem, Ch Fawad Ahmed, Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mehmood Khan, SAPM Tabish Gohar, Minister Finance Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Taimoor Saleem Jhagra, Minister Energy Sindh Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, Minister Inter Provincial Coordination Balochistan Umar Khan Jamali, Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H Farooqi and senior federal and provincial secretaries.
Power Division provided a detailed presentation on preparation of “Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2021”. IGCEP is a plan prepared by National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) on annual basis that provides indicative electricity demand and supply for the next ten years based on overall requirements and with least cost. CCI was informed that Power Division held several consultative sessions with all provinces and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The Prime Minister stated that the main objective of IGCEP is to determine plan of action based on meeting the energy needs and providing cheap energy to the masses. He emphasized that the aim of the government is to reform energy generation, transmission and distribution into an efficient system.
The Prime Minister directed Power Division to employ technology based solutions at distribution companies’ level in order to save the interests of paying consumers from the inconvenience of load-management in low recovery grids.
CCI unanimously approved IGCEP assumptions as recommended by the federal cabinet in its meeting held on August 31, 2021. CCI decided to include hydel electricity in renewable energy targets.
Further, CCI directed Power Division to finalize “wheeling” policy so that it could be rolled out immediately.
