LAHORE:
Punjab is experiencing prolonged and increasingly disruptive power outages, with rural areas reporting load shedding of up to 16 hours a day and urban centers facing repeated outages, according to residents and power utility officials.
The situation has intensified across regions served by Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco), Faisalabad (Fesco) and Gujranwala (Gepco) as the gap between demand and supply of electricity widens.
Consumers from several districts say outages are frequent, largely unannounced and getting longer, raising concerns about planning and transparency in the power sector.
“We cannot even sleep at night because of the load-shedding these days,” said Sharafat, a resident of Bahawalpur, who reported outages lasting between 12 and 16 hours daily. Similar complaints surfaced from Bahawalnagar, Kasur, Sahiwal and other districts.
In Burewala, Zubair Ahmad said power cuts lasted six to eight hours daily. Residents in Faisalabad reported about four hours of outages in urban areas, while Lahore consumers spoke of three to four hours of daily load shedding with longer outages in nearby rural areas.
Khaleeq from rural Kasur said outages in his area had stretched to five to eight hours. “No one from the power company is telling us the actual situation,” he said.
Officials from distribution companies say the deficit has increased sharply during peak hours. In the Lesco region, demand has exceeded 3,100 megawatts against an allocation of around 2,300 MW, leaving a deficit of more than 800 MW in recent days.
A Lesco spokesman acknowledged an increase in complaints but dismissed claims of widespread load shedding in Lahore, attributing outages to maintenance work and targeted shutdowns of high-loss feeders.
“In these areas, load shedding is observed as a policy matter to discourage and control power theft,” the spokesperson said.
However, reports from both urban and rural areas suggest that outages extend well beyond scheduled maintenance, with outages every hour in some places.
Energy analysts and sector observers have raised broader concerns, arguing that Pakistan’s installed generation capacity should be sufficient to meet current demand. They question why extensive load management is enforced despite this capability.
Some analysts say that even in the absence of liquefied natural gas (LNG), outages of such duration should not be necessary, especially in urban centers.
“The system has enough installed capacity to meet base demand,” one analyst said, adding that recurring outages point more to operational or policy decisions than an absolute lack of production.
Petroleum Division officials say gas supplies to power plants have been severely curtailed, with LNG cargoes unavailable until early May. As a result, gas-based production has declined, limiting production from thermal plants.
At present, only limited indigenous gas is being diverted to the power sector, although officials expect supplies to improve in May.
Separately, the Power Division has cited reduced hydropower generation as a key factor behind the shortage, saying lower water releases from dams have significantly reduced peak-hour generation.
According to official estimates, the national electricity deficit has been between 4,500 and 6,500 MW in recent days, depending on the level of demand.
