The energy follies continue, editorial tribune

[ziaulislam]

Since the very outset of the Nawaz Administration, and even during its predecessor’s tenure, we have been calling upon the government to set a clear national energy policy. While it has yet to spell such a policy out in precise terms, we believe we are now able to decipher what that policy is: make the honest bill-paying consumer continue to pay for the thieves who cannot be bothered to pay their fair share. The latest example of this policy is the government’s idea that the Rs40 billion it had to borrow for the disastrous results of its catastrophically short-sighted energy pricing policy will be paid back using money raised through a tariff increase on honest electricity consumers.

The actual tariff increase in question is not very large — 12 paisas per kilowatt-hour, which amounts to less than a two per cent increase in rate — but it is the principle of the matter that bothers us. The petrol crisis was a direct result of three factors, all of which are the government’s fault. Firstly, the policy of sudden, monthly changes in prices rather than smaller, daily shifts, was responsible for the sudden surge in demand. Secondly, the government’s failure to anticipate that demand surge caused the supply crunch. And finally, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s decision to prevent the PSO from buying the foreign exchange it needed to buy oil — just because he wanted to meet his year-end reserves target — caused the situation to worsen even more than it needed to. Why, then, is the bill-paying consumer being forced to pay the cost of this crisis? What fault is it of the millions of honest, hard-working people who pay their bills in full and on time? Why are they being made to pay? By making them fork over the money, the government is effectively saying that those who obey the law would perhaps be better off if they had decided to join those who flout it openly. How does the government plan on cracking down on theft when it creates no disincentive for thieves and plenty of disincentives for honesty?

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2015.

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[SBD-3]

"Make the honest bill-paying consumer continue to pay for the thieves who cannot be bothered to pay their fair share"
This should stop! The electricity to be given only to those areas where the collection rate is higher than 85-90%. Choor auchakaon ka bill sab kiu dain!
Power distribution companies: PC fails to attract a single bid for financial advisers

 

[ziaulislam]

"Make the honest bill-paying consumer continue to pay for the thieves who cannot be bothered to pay their fair share"
This should stop! The electricity to be given only to those areas where the collection rate is higher than 85-90%. Choor auchakaon ka bill sab kiu dain!
Power distribution companies: PC fails to attract a single bid for financial advisers

Smart meters and making electricity affordable is the only solution, followed by privatizations

 

[SBD-3]

Smart meters and making electricity affordable is the only solution, followed by privatizations

KSE does it without smart metering. But private investors wont be interested in acquiring the decos with high non-collection. Partly because of lack of political support for stopping theft. You can install a smart meter but you can't stop people establishing direct connections from main lines without political and law enforcement support

 

[I FLY HIGH]

Smart meters and making electricity affordable is the only solution, followed by privatizations

agreed in the first part that if power is expensive theft increases , but with second part smart metres is not correct , how can a smart metre prevent a kunda ? our problem is non payment and kundas .

 

[ziaulislam]

agreed in the first part that if power is expensive theft increases , but with second part smart metres is not correct , how can a smart metre prevent a kunda ? our problem is non payment and kundas .

smart meters concept comes from fact that electricity consumption is sent to load center every hour , load center statistically analyses where electricity is spent and can determine the areas where theft is done. it can than penalize or effectively shut electricity to that area at that time.

second this also solves the over billing issue.
frankly the only reason why companies are against it because it over bill good consumers 20-30% to cover up the losses.

lastly it will free up huge amount of man power to other sectors of power development rather than reading meters.

 

[I FLY HIGH]

smart meters concept comes from fact that electricity consumption is sent to load center every hour , load center statistically analyses where electricity is spent and can determine the areas where theft is done. it can than penalize or effectively shut electricity to that area at that time.

second this also solves the over billing issue.
frankly the only reason why companies are against it because it over bill good consumers 20-30% to cover up the losses.

lastly it will free up huge amount of man power to other sectors of power development rather than reading meters.

yes , it is a nice tool and a command and control centre must be established at the office and every transformer could be calulated live that how much power is going in theft and in which area ? It can solve the purpose to some extent but must not be allowed to overbill.