Federal Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan on Monday informed the National Assembly that the government had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against 15,000 power thefts and arrested 1,500 people involved in the heinous crime.
Speaking on point of order, he said the government had launched a comprehensive drive against power theft to overcome the inefficiency of the system and maximize recovery.
He said that till date, the ministry had recovered about Rs. 1.5 billion from defaulters. The government is also working to improve the distribution system in the country and the ministry is taking steps to control power theft.
The ministry will add about 3,500 MW electricity in the system before summer, he added.
Alternate Power Policy within Two Months
Minister for Power, Omar Ayub Khan has said that the government is determined to meet the future energy needs of the country, therefore an alternate power policy would be announced within the next two months.
“At present, the energy and the capacity payment component is 60 percent and 40 percent respectively, and our institutions have to bear the capacity charges also because Pakistan is a single buyer market and it is the government that purchases power from power producing companies,” he said.
The minister explained that for the needs of industrial units, the government has to ensure the availability of power in the system. Therefore, it has to pay the power producers for the energy as well as the capacity charges.
The capacity payment includes charges like interest cost and fixed overhead that are paid to these companies to keep their machines prepared for generation under the merit order. The energy payment is made to ensure the availability of fuel and lubricants, he explained.
He further stated that with the installation of more plants, the component of capacity payment may further increase in the bill.
