Karachi become load shedding free? K-Electric officials said

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy held a meeting to discuss power issues.

During the session, K-Electric officials made an important announcement about ending load-shedding in Karachi.

The Secretary Power revealed that since 2008, domestic consumers in FATA have not been billed. These consumers have been using electricity for free.

Former Federal Minister and MNA Syed Aminul Haq raised concerns. He asked about K-Electric’s preparations for expected rains in Karachi. He also questioned when Karachi would become load-shedding-free.

The Chief Distribution Officer responded. He said a monitoring cell is active due to expected rains. Currently, 70% of Karachi’s feeders are exempt from load-shedding.

A K-Electric official shared their plan. They aim to make Karachi load-shedding-free by 2030. The company has reduced losses from 40% to 15%.

The Secretary Power added that K-Electric’s electricity production is costly. The government provided a subsidy of 170 billion rupees last year. Without subsidies, the cost per unit would be 70 rupees.

During the meeting, the CEO of HESCO and Energy Minister Awais Leghari disagreed over statistics.

The CEO claimed HESCO reduced losses from 32% to 25%. Recovery rates improved from 73% to 80%.

However, Minister Awais Leghari rejected these numbers. He said HESCO’s performance is poor. Recovery rates dropped by 9.9%.

Power Division officials supported the minister. They said HESCO’s losses increased from 25.6% in March 2024 to 26.7% in 2025. Recovery rates fell from 88.8% to 71.9%.

Leghari also highlighted staffing issues. Power companies have 80,000 vacant positions. 22,000 critical posts need immediate hiring.