The consumers of 11 KV Bashirabad-I, II feeders and 11 KV Shahi Bagh feeders will also have their power suspended. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The federal government on Thursday acknowledged that prolonged load shedding of more than 10 hours a day is being imposed on 2,223 power supplies across the country.
According to written responses submitted by Power Division Minister Awais Leghari during the National Assembly’s question hour, out of a total of 12,665 feeders nationwide, extended load-shedding is being carried out on 604 of Quetta Electric Supply Company’s (QESCO) 814 feeders, 407 of SEPCO’S 7.7’S 7.7’S 642 of Pesco’s 1,376, 322 of Hesco’s 747 and 37 of Hazara Electric Supply Company’s 286 feeders.
In contrast, no feeders under LESCO, GEPCO OR FESCO experience load shedding of more than 10 hours.
The response further stated that between July and December 2025, electricity consumers used 8.78 billion units of electricity. The total number of electricity consumers served by 11 distribution companies is now 39.22 million.
It was also revealed that the number of protected electricity consumers has risen sharply to 21.55 million compared to 9.5 million in October 2021, reflecting the growing financial stress on households due to rising tariffs and unstable supply.
On the generation side, the Power Division informed the House that by December 2025, the country’s net metering capacity had reached 7,000 megawatts, while off-grid solar capacity stood at 12.62 megawatts, underscoring the rapid shift of consumers towards solar energy amid unreliable grid supply.
The written response also revealed alarming financial losses in the power sector. During the past two years, the loss of power transmission has exceeded Rs 600 billion. In FY 2024-25, transmission losses stood at Rs284 billion, while in FY 2023-24, losses stood at Rs322 billion.
Among distribution companies, Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) recorded the biggest losses at Rs96 billion, followed by K-Electric Supply Company (KSCO) at Rs51 billion, Lesco at Rs46 billion, SEPCO at Rs37 billion and HESCO at Rs22 billion.
The government also revealed that Rs 310 billion is being recovered annually from electricity consumers to service the power sector’s circular debt, further adding to the financial burden on households already facing high tariffs and prolonged outages.
After the end of the question hour, the NA session was suspended indefinitely.
