PESHAWAR: The Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) said on Thursday that several areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are experiencing extra power outages due to a major gap between electricity demand and supply. Consumers are facing an additional three to four hours of load shedding beyond the regular schedule.
According to a spokesperson, “Forced load management is being implemented in the PESCO region due to a generation shortfall.”
He explained that the step was taken to protect consumers from higher electricity bills that could result from producing power through expensive fuel sources.
The spokesperson also said that recent global developments and the rise in crude oil prices have pushed up the cost of electricity generation. He noted that the difference between supply and demand has grown, with current electricity demand standing at 2,000 megawatts while supply remains at 1,351 megawatts.
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“Due to the generation shortfall, electricity demand has increased while supply has decreased,” he said, adding that this imbalance has led to an extra three to four hours of load shedding beyond the scheduled outages.
He added that efforts are being made to reduce the impact on consumers as much as possible.
“PESCO is trying to ensure minimum load management so that consumers face as little inconvenience as possible,” the spokesperson said. He added that forced load management would end once the generation shortfall is resolved.
Consumers were advised to register complaints about electricity supply through helpline 118, the spokesperson said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Power Division announced that because of rising electricity demand during peak hours, power would be suspended for about 2.25 hours daily between 5 pm and 1 am across the country under its “peak relief strategy”.
The Power Division also instructed distribution companies to maintain transparency in outages by providing feeder wise shutdown schedules to consumers. It added that unscheduled power cuts would not be allowed and that in case of local faults, offices must inform consumers immediately about the disruption.
However, people in both urban and rural areas say the outages they are facing are much longer than what authorities have described as limited load management. In remote districts, electricity cuts lasting up to 12 hours and in some cases reaching 16 hours have severely disrupted daily life.
Meanwhile, K Electric and the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company will not be included in the load shedding plan because they rely less on furnace oil.