The government has decided to initiate a survey of electricity consumers to address issues of power theft, line losses, power companies’ losses and circular debt.
According to sources in the ministry of finance, power distribution companies will conduct the survey, which is part of a broader strategy chalked out by the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the Planning Commission to tackle the energy crisis.
A survey for the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) has already been finalised as part of a pilot project. Feedback from the project will be funnelled into finalising the survey for power distribution companies.
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Consumers, Electricity, Energy, Government, Infrastructure
Asian Development Bank, crisis, electricity, Energy, IESCO, NADRA
An interesting report from DAWN summaries the Asian Development Bank report which holds the Ministry of Water and Power and NEPRA (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority) responsible for power crises the country faces.
The Asian Development Bank has held two major power sector stakeholders — the Ministry of Water and Power and the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) — responsible for most of the ills Pakistan’s power sector is facing today, including loadshedding, system losses and high tariffs.
This puts a serious question mark on the performance of the two public sector institutions designed and set up to solve electricity problems and remove consumers’ sufferings. They have been blamed for stalling or delaying reforms launched by the government more than two decades ago.
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Consumers, Electricity, Energy, Government, Infrastructure, Pakistan
government, Ministry, nepra
For the electricity traiffs the limit is beyond the skys. What new comes in is differentiated power tariff to be implemented from September 1. The Tribune gives the details:
The federal government has introduced differentiated tariffs for electricity consumers, to be implemented on bills sent after September 1.
Based on time-of-use metering, the move would translate into a reduction from 4 paisa to 48 paisa per kilowatt hour (p/kWh) for different consumer categories.
According to a notification, the current tariffs will be maintained for peak hours while the reduction will be applicable on off-peak hours for residential, commercial, industrial and bulk users.
The reductions in off-peak tariffs are as follows: 48 paisa per kWh for residential, 24 paisa per kWh for commercial, 10 paisa per kWh for B1 and 24 paisa per kWh for B2 industrial consumers. For bulk consumers, the reduction is four paisa per kWh and 14 paisa per kWh for C-1B and C-1C categories respectively. For street lighting, the reduction is 29 paisa per kWh.
Will this reduction matter much for the consumers?
Electricity, Energy, KESC, Pakistan, WAPDA
electricity, government, KESC, Pakistan, tariff, WAPDA
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) allowed on Tuesday a 26 paisa per unit increase in power tariff for consumers of nine distribution companies of Wapda from August 31 on account of monthly fuel cost adjustment.
A Nepra official told Dawn that power companies had sought an increase of 52 paisa per unit under the fuel adjustment formula for July.
But the power regulator allowed an increase 26 paisa and turned down the rest sought on account of system losses, late payments and overall circular debt.
The official said that Nepra had sent its determination to the federal government for notification. The new tariff will be recovered from consumers in the next billing month. The new tariff will not apply to KESC whose fuel-based tariff adjustment will be made separately.
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Electricity, Energy, KESC, Pakistan, WAPDA
electricity, KESC, nepra, power, WAPDA
Pakistan Ministry of Water and Power would provide electricity to around 100 villages through solar energy during this year as part of its programme to ensure light in every village of the country. Electrification through Renewable Energy Technologies in remote and off-grid villages of country is the prime focus of the government which has initiated projects not only to overcome power shortage but also to electrify the remotest parts, said an official at the Ministry.
The official said a project has already been approved to electrify 400 remote villages of Sindh and Balochistan through solar energy. Around 49 villages (3000 households) have been electrified in district Tharparker using solar energy through government own funds.
The funds for remaining work in Sindh and the projects in Balochistan are being negotiated with the donors and are expected to be initiated during this year. Moreover, 100 Solar Home Systems in three villages of district Dera Bugti, 119 Solar Home Systems in 10 villages of Deh Tiko Baran district Jamshoro, Sindh and 200 Solar Home Systems in 16 Villages of district Khuzdar, Balochistan are also being installed through which thousands of people would be facilitated.
The official said in view of the electricity crises in the country the government has given a serious thought to both short and long-term measures. Public sector hydro plants with generation capacity of 347 MW will be added to the system at a cost of US $500 million and 1,700 MW of high efficiency public sector thermal generation would start generation between end 2010 and upto 2012. The outlay for these projects is estimated as US $1.5 billion.
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Consumers, Electricity, Energy, Pakistan, Renewable Energy, Solar, power
South Africa’s power supplier Eskom Holdings Ltd. generates nearly all the nation’s electricity at some of the world’s cheapest rates. That arrangement has allowed global mining giants to extract vast amounts of gold, platinum and coal from South Africa’s earth and to keep electricity affordable for the poor.
But the state-run utility says artificially low electricity rates have left it with dangerously low generating capacity, leaving the country vulnerable to power cuts.
It is proposing raising tariffs 35% annually in each of the next three years—current and former Eskom executives warn anything less will threaten the company’s ability to provide a steady supply of electricity.
The proposal has brought a barrage of criticism from politicians and consumers, fanning concerns about inflation and imperiling the recovery of Africa’s biggest economy. On Wednesday, government regulators are set to decide on its rate-increase proposal.
Via: WSJ
Buildings, Electricity
soccer, south africa
One of the trends for saving energy is that of energy monitoring at home or work. Companies are planning to launch wireless energy dashboards that will sit in your home, monitor energy data from your electricity meter and let you know if you’re being an energy hog. As reported by Earth2Tech:
While tech firms have been trying to sell you on the “digital home” for years — complete with wireless networks that can do everything from control your entertainment equipment to operate high-tech security systems to roast a chicken — the new energy management firms are keeping it simple by using low-cost hardware and open standards to monitor energy data.
This year is particularly important to these mostly young companies, as President Obama has pledged to help utilities install 40 million more smart meters (basically digital meters that create a 2-way connection with the power grid and the utility). Smart meters installed at homes can unleash data about the fluctuating price of electricity throughout the day, enabling consumers that have energy management tools to shift energy consumption to the time of day when power is cheapest. For utilities, that can mean better management of the power grid and eliminate the need to build out expensive power generating systems.
A half-dozen companies are launching their first energy dashboards this year, and a few others are starting to gain traction with already available online tools. One of the biggest differences between these firms is whether companies will sell directly to the consumer or to utility partners for upcoming smart meter rollouts. Several of the already-available options for consumers bypass smart meters and utilities and just help the interested consumer with a standard electricity meter. They’re cheap and available online, but they provide less detailed data.
Conservation, Electricity, Energy
Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) recently inaugurated its new 220 MW (megawatt) Combined Cycle Power Plant located in Korangi. The plant, owned and operated by the KESC, has been completed with an investment of Rs 16 billion. It consists of four latest, state-of-the-art high-efficiency gas turbines, one steam turbine and other plant equipmentNote that Abraj Capital assumed management control of KESC in late 2008. The current deficit of electricity in the system stands at around 3,500 megawatts. The KESC has started pre-construction activities for a new 560 megawatts combined cycle power plant at Bin Qasim which would be functional in one and half year
All the big shots, Prime Minister, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Education Minister Mazharul Haq and others were also present on this occasion. The Prime Minister said that a mix of moderate generation capacity projects like Duber Khwar, Jinnah Low Head Mianwali, Nandipur, 3 Chashnupp, 121 Mega Watts Allai Khwar, Bhikki Power Plant and Liberty Power Tech are some of the prominent power projects in thermal, nuclear and hydro sectors.
Prime Minister said that theft of electricity and non-payment of dues are the biggest reasons of bringing this sector under crisis. “It is a vicious cycle which affects investment in the system and needs to be broken through building better coordination among all stakeholders in the city of Karachi,” he added.
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Electricity, Energy, Infrastructure, Natural Gas
The minister for water and power Pakistan said the cabinet decided to adopt all the 11 recommendations of the ADB that took about five months to complete its third part audit of the rental power projects. He said the electricity rates would go up by 6.1 per cent if eight RPPs of 1,156MW were implemented as advised by the ADB, but the increase could go up to 9.9 per cent if 14 RPPs of 1,994MW were realised. He, however, agreed that the increase did not take into account the impact of oil that was a pass-through item and its prices could not be estimated.
He said the ADB had also asked the government to remove inconsistencies in RPP contracts if legally possible, to strictly enforce contract timelines and to get their commercial operations certified by internationally acceptable independent engineers.
The ADB had said that the elimination of 100 per cent loadshedding during peak hours was not a viable option from the affordability perspective, he said. The bank had also called for quality controls of old and used RPPs strictly under the trade policy, optimum utilisation of available gas and find new resources aggressively and must continuously run RPPs till 2012 to provide room for improvement in Wapda’s generation plants, he added.
Electricity, Pakistan
During the current winter season, traders are dispatching bulk of their import of generators to Punjab where power outages, spanning from 15 to 18 hours has pushed its sales to substantial level. The demand for generators in the retail and wholesale markets of Karachi have plunged to more than 70 to 75 percent during the last few months.
The traders attributed decline in demand to short duration of load shedding and declining purchasing power of city general consumers.
“Poor response by people of Karachi during the current winter season towards purchasing generators have spelled gloomy business prospects for the traders majority of which have turned their attention to Punjab to get rid of the stuck up stocks” Khurrum Saigal, president Pakistan Machinery Merchant Group (PMMG) said.
He said poor sales of all kinds of generators available in the market was reported by most of the traders ranging from one kv of Chinese origin Lifan to 2 kv of Meiji company.
Referring to the overwhelming response of Punjab market regarding boost in sales of generators, he said the positive business opportunities have compelled large number of Karachi traders to market and dispose of their products before end of the winter season thus enabling them to place new import orders before start of the next summer season.
Traders and importers claimed during corresponding period of previous year, generator sales in both retail and wholesale markets was encouraging as substantial number of buyers purchased different brands of generators.
The traders are facing bleak prospects at one of the largest wholesale generator market in country at Shahra e Liaquat Karachi as sales of imported generators from China, are preferring to sale their stuck up imported generators in the vast Punjab market, where prolonged load-shedding hours have turned lives of people miserable.
Consumers, Electricity
