The Power Division on Wednesday defended the hours of loadshedding underway across much of Pakistan as necessary to “save” the public from a tariff hike of Rs. 3-4/unit.
In a series of posts on X, the Power Division noted that Qatar had declared Force Majeure on its LNG commitments due to the Iran war, leading to a shutdown of LNG power plants due to lack of gas. “Hydropower generation has decreased by 1,991 megawatts,” it added.
Maintaining that minimizing the use of expensive fuel was “saving” the public from a tariff hike of Rs. 3-4/unit, it credited “the farsighted policies” of the government for the “solar revolution.”
Maintaining that the country had avoided a “major power crisis,” apparently by shutting off power to the masses, it said the nationwide demand on Tuesday night was 18,000MW. “Despite the 1,991MW shortfall in hydropower and load management under the peak relief strategy, the shortfall remained only 4,500 MW,” it added.
Earlier this week, the Power Division had announced ‘loadshedding’ of 2.25 hours during the “peak hours” of 5 p.m.-1 a.m. daily, claiming this would prevent a tariff hike. Despite these claims, citizens reported significantly higher loadshedding, with some areas experiencing upwards of 12 hours of power outages under the rebranded “peak relief strategy” phrasing.
The government has yet to convince the public of its claims, with outrage mounting over the performance of Minister Awais Leghari, and questions being raised over capacity charges and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)’s claims of “ending” loadshedding during the last tenure of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from 2013-2017.