ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) to implement writs and deal with electricity theft worth Rs 380-400 billion annually by outsourcing the collection of electricity bills to the private sector. Approved the proposed project of Power Division in principle.
A high-profile meeting attended by ministers and senior officials of the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum and Power Division) and the Ministry of Finance deliberated on a plan to combat power theft. The meeting also deliberated on power and petroleum sector issues like gas crisis and load management. Senior officials present at the meeting told JEE News that the option of importing gas and oil was not discussed.
“Five discos including Tesco, Pesco, Kesco, Hesco and Sepco have seen huge losses,” an official said. Mentioning power conservation, the official said that 7 pm in winter and 8 pm in summer with 4 working days for markets and one day a week for government and private sector offices to work from home. . It was also suggested that electric bikes should be encouraged to be used by the public for transportation. Medical stores will be open 24 hours. The security and anti-theft measures will be presented to the Federal Cabinet for further discussion for approval.
The meeting considered various scenarios of early closure of markets, including the impact on fuel bills. The participants were informed that the import bill could be reduced by 1.5 to 2.5 billion dollars annually provided all federal units fully implement the plan. The Prime Minister also asked the authorities concerned to convert public sector offices and important buildings to solar energy at a faster rate. Citing the Power Division’s presentation on tackling power theft, the official revealed that the government will outsource the collection of electricity billing to private companies and award contracts in the first quarter of 2023.
The government will also move to legislate to allow discos to set up special police stations to deal with power theft. In addition, the government will speed up the installation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters by June 2023 at transformers of all high-loss feeders, starting with the feeders with the highest losses in their jurisdiction and descending. are in order.
AMI system will also be installed at single point supply of all industrial and commercial connections, bulk consumers and their loads in descending order. Installation of high-tech systems without human intervention will help significantly reduce power theft and technical losses, as the decades-old traditional method of energy audit and accounting principles identify energy-stealing consumers and areas of technical losses. Failed to identify correctly.
To this effect, the official said, a separate autonomous project directorate would be set up. Each DISCO will share the timeline for completion of these projects with a dedicated project director, other teams and the power division.
To a question, the official said that once the feeder coding is corrected and the customers’ reference numbers are aligned with the correct transformers, it will be easier for discos to outsource transformers and feeders. Readings will be taken remotely through real-time GSM technology (no need for meter readers) and recovery can be outsourced.
There will also be an option to remotely disconnect the meter sitting in the office. However, a third party may be engaged, if required, to remove the equipment. He said that if the phone numbers of customers are collected, then outsourcing of bill distribution is possible. PDF bills can be sent to customers with just one click on their smartphones.
Discos will also coordinate with meter manufacturers and contractors for AMI specifications, features and implementation. PLCs (Power Carrier Lines) and DCUs (Data Concentrator Units) communicating over transformers with weak or missing mobile signals and metered areas can be used.
