ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday approved the proposed plan of Power Division to stop electricity theft worth Rs 380 to 400 billion annually.
The plan suggests outsourcing electricity bill collection to the private sector and policing to enforce the writ of Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos).
The high-level meeting was attended by the Prime Minister, Ministers and senior officials of the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum and Power Division) and the Ministry of Finance to discuss the plan to control power theft. Power and petroleum sector issues like gas crisis and load management were also discussed in the meeting. However, oil and gas imports were not discussed, senior officials present at the meeting told JEE News.
“Heavy losses have been seen in five discos including Tesco, Pesco, Kesco, Hesco and Sepco,” an official told JEE News.
The official added that there are proposals to close the markets at 7 pm in winter and 8 pm in summer for four working days and one day a week to work from home to save energy. The meeting also discussed promoting the use of electric bikes for the public. Medical stores will be open 24 hours. Security and anti-theft measures will be tabled in the federal cabinet for further discussion and approval.
Participants were told that implementing conservation measures could reduce the import bill by $1.5 to $2.5 billion annually, provided the plan is implemented by all provinces. The Prime Minister also ordered the authorities to convert public sector offices and buildings to solar energy as soon as possible. The government plans to outsource electricity billing collection to private companies and will award contracts for the same in the first quarter of 2023, the official revealed.
Additionally, the government will also legislate to allow discos to set up dedicated police stations to deal with power theft. In addition, the government will increase installation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) on transformers of all high loss feeders by June 2023, starting with the highest loss feeders in its jurisdiction in descending order.
The AMI system will also be installed on all industrial and commercial connections, providing single point supply to bulk consumers and their loads in descending order. Installation of high-tech systems without human intervention will significantly reduce theft.
A separate autonomous project directorate will be set up for the matter, the official added. Discos will share the timeline of completion of these projects with a dedicated project director, other teams and the power division.
He added that there will also be an option to disconnect the meter remotely. However, a third party may be involved if the equipment needs to be removed. He said that outsourcing of bill distribution is possible if the phone numbers of the customers are available. 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. Weak or missing mobile signals and metered areas can be used to communicate through power carrier lines and data concentrator units on transformers.
