Dr. Gohar Ejaz, the former caretaker minister for Commerce and Industries, said that at least four power plants getting a monthly allocation of Rs. 10 billion are operating without producing any energy at all, using statistics from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).
Dr. Gohar Ejaz outlined how a sizeable amount of the nation’s energy budget is being misallocated in a post uploaded on X (previously Twitter) on Sunday. He did this by citing NEPRA statistics from January to March of this year.
During this time, NEPRA paid several Independent Power Producers (IPPs) a total of Rs150 billion in capacity payments per month.
As to the statement made by the former minister, fewer than 10% of these IPPs are producing any power at all.
“Four power plants are getting Rs10 billion per month each and have zero power supply,” he said on X.
Dr. Ejaz denounced this payment scheme as unjust, pointing out that a significant sum of money, dubbed “halal income,” is being directed toward a mere 40 households in the name of capacity charges.
He stressed that although the purpose of these fees is to guarantee that facilities are prepared to provide power when required, they seem to have been handled terribly in this instance.
He continued, denouncing the misappropriation of public monies, “This money, our halal income, is being given to 40 families under the guise of capacity charges.”
He maintained that these power plants ought to be transformed into merchant plants, which would entail paying them exclusively for the electricity they generate and distribute.
Furthermore, in order to maintain cost-effectiveness, Dr. Ejaz recommended that Pakistan purchase power from the lowest-priced providers.
He said, “The government shouldn’t conduct business at the expense of the residents of Pakistan,” demanding an end to this abuse. In order to guarantee equitable treatment and monitoring, Dr. Ejaz further urged NEPRA to incorporate participation from all significant customers in its management and distribution procedures.
He said, “This exploitation has to stop.”
