AT long last, the Government is all set to launch a project aimed at ensuring technology driven load-shedding to address complaints about the element of injustice done to honest consumers due to existing feeder based load-shedding. Speaking at a ceremony in Dera Ghazi Khan on Monday, Minister for Energy Sardar Awais Leghari revealed the Government’s plan to introduce modern technology to combat power theft and curtail line losses. The proposed Advanced Power Management System (APMS) will identify specific transformers in high-theft areas, enabling targeted disconnections so that thousands of paying consumers on an entire feeder are not penalized for the actions of electricity thieves.
According to authentic data, Pakistan loses an estimated Rs 600 billion annually due to power theft, a key driver of the country’s soaring circular debt and persistent forced load-shedding. Electricity theft and non-technical transmission and distribution losses account for roughly 15% to 20% of all generated electricity across various distribution companies (DISCOs). This massive deficit forces utility companies to increase tariffs, shifting the financial burden onto honest, bill-paying consumers. The scale of power theft varies with the situation in KP and Balochistan categorized as critical (because of over sixty percent theft), high in Sindh and moderate losses in Punjab. Methods used to steal power include ‘Kunda’ system (direct illegal hookups deployed over exposed overhead lines), meter tampering and collusion between consumers and DISCO field staff who record fake snapshots or deliberate lower readings. These issues and where they exist is fully known to the authorities concerned and it was in this backdrop that the management of WAPDA was handed over to Pakistan Army in 1998 with the objective of preventing a total financial and operational meltdown, reducing massive technical losses, curbing widespread electricity theft (pilferage) and recovering huge public utility receivables but negligible progress was made towards realization of these cherished goals. This is because entire regions were involved in power theft while misuse of industrial and commercial connections was widely reported due to palm-greasing. After the failure of its efforts to curb power theft through administrative measures, the authorities depended mostly on feeder-based shut down of theft prune areas and incorporation of technology to discourage theft. For the last several years, entire high-loss feeders are shut down, punishing honest consumers alongside thieves. Under the APMS, by cross-referencing total energy sent to a single transformer against registered meters, DISCOs can remotely disconnect just the specific transformer where theft occurs. There will still be an element of injustice and discrimination as one transformer caters to the needs of dozens of households and all of them will be punished but hopefully, with the passage of time, it will become technologically possible to pinpoint single consumers stealing energy from the system. The Government is also implementing a rollout of 16.2 million smart single-phase AMI meters across Multan, Lahore, Peshawar, Hazara and Quetta. These meters operate in real-time and send an automated warning signal back to central servers if any physical tampering or bypass is attempted. The state is accelerating the privatization and bidding framework of three high-performing DISCOs (Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Islamabad) to transfer management over to private stakeholders. However, no one knows what happened to plans announced by the Government about establishment of task forces at the district level comprising magistrates, police officers and prosecution experts to carry out unannounced inspections. Power theft is punishable by rigorous imprisonment up to 3 years and fines up to millions of rupees but enforcement of the law remains a big question mark. Anyhow, it is hoped that the new system, along with other multi-directional measures, will yield positive results as far as the issue of theft and line losses is concerned. As in the case of other steps, the APMS is also being launched from Lahore where the instance of theft is nominal whereas the situation demands its introduction in regions known for rampant theft.