lectricity supply is an enabler of development, greatly contributing to economic growth and wellbeing of a people. An imbalance in the demand and supply of electricity tends to exacerbate issues relating to the social fabric of a society. It can also have serious consequences for the viability of industrial and commercial sectors of the economy. Stemming from insufficient supplies and inefficient use, power shortages proliferate poverty, stoke social unrest and can cause security issues in addition to denting competitiveness by increasing the cost of production.

Despite massive investment over the last decade in enhancing installed electricity generation capacity, Pakistan’s power sector still faces serious challenges.

The challenge of planned, systematic power outages in the so-called high-loss areas, such as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some other regions, has ballooned into a full-fledged standoff between the federal and the provincial governments. It has emerged as a textbook example of how an large energy deficit can have catastrophic impact on national development and integration.

It would seem that every person in the country has a right to benefit from a sustained supply of electricity. Considering its paramount importance, electricity coverage needs to be expanded to reach every citizen.

However, the governments have not dealt with the issue in a satisfactory manner. The popular perception about electricity use in some pockets of the KPK is based on an unrealistic view. Some local politicians and government leaders have s promoted the belief that the KPK produces abundant, cheap hydropower but receives a meager share of this resource at an exploitatively high price. There is no interest in the ills of the national grid and how it works.

The hyper-nationalist view of local resources has been bandied to the extent that many citizens now believe that they have a right to free electric power and thus do not bother to pay their electricity bills. Irrespective of the merits of the argument, they find it convenient.

Some people argue for the right to free power by invoking the fact that a large number of people were displaced from their ancestral homes the construction of water reservoirs like the Tarbela Dam. It is mentioned that they also suffer greatly on account of the unique topography of the region whenever there are excessive rains.

The impression of receiving insufficient power supply at exploitative tariffs further complicates the situation. The insistence on greater control over and preferential right to electricity generated in the province is supported by the perception of “trillions of rupees in unpaid hydropower royalties” owed by the federal government. The claims are gravely out of proportion. The previous government, led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had sought to resolve the issue by holding that the AGN Kazi formula assigned excessive royalties and needed to be scrapped.

Nonetheless, a consequence of such claims and perceptions is that many consumers in the KP routinely hook up to power lines as if they were freebies. This reaction is compounded by the federal government’s ineffective response to such practices.

The tussle between the federal and the provincial governments over power availability has aggravated mainly due to the collective punishment approach to power theft/ unpaid use that denies access to grid power to law abiding consumers and has been in place for over a decade. The law-abiding people living in these areas are now subject to 12-hour outages during peak summer through no fault of their own.

The tussle between Islamabad and Pehawar has aggravated, mainly due to the collective punishment approach in place for over a decade. Law-abiding people in these areas are suffering as electricity supply is shut off for 12 hours daily.

The irrational approach to cutting power losses allows the ‘running defaulters’ to remain part of the national grid. This strategy leaves no other option for dealing with the problem. However it results in reducing power consumption significantly, thereby adding to the capacity charges paid to the independent power producers and borne by the national exchequer.

These planned outages, coupled with technical constraints, have reduced the national grid to partial operation, greatly reducing its ability to perform according to its generation, transmission, and distribution capacities.

This has resulted in stunted energy growth, reflected in poor per capita electricity generation in the country that is one of the main indicators of national economic development. The capacity for electricity generation should be enhanced in line with economic advancement until the entire population is covered.

Over the last decade, per capita electricity consumption has doubled in most South Asian countries. Pakistan, on the other hand has shown virtual negative growth.

According to official data, installed generation capacity in the last thirteen years (2010-11 to 2022-23) increased from 22,477 MW to 45,605 MW, showing a growth of 102.89 percent. In stark comparison, electricity generation grew from 94,653 GWh in 2010-11 to 139,380 GWh in 2022-23, registering an increase of only 47.25 percent.

This poor performance in the energy sector has left Pakistan far behind other South Asian countries. According to the World Bank, even countries like Bhutan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka are far ahead, ensuring 100 percent access to electricity for their populations, compared to Pakistan’s dismal 94.9 percent. India currently stands at 99.6 percent, Bangladesh at 99 percent and Nepal at 89.9 percent.

We must not forget that access to electricity and its availability create economic and social disparities between underprivileged and advantaged groups. These disparities continue to rise as electricity coverage enhances the quality of life for privileged groups at the expense of deprived people. Many social problem result from low energy use. These include poverty, disease, hunger, civil war, existential risks and inequality.

However, the action by Chief Minister Gandapur and other popular leaders to storm grid stations and forcibly restore electricity supply is not a sustainable solution.

Instead, the federal government should hand over control over power distribution companies as central governments in some South Asian countries have done. Provincial administrations can either acquire ownership of these companies or allow these entities to be privatised as soon as possible. India’s power sector has transformed into a more efficient system, mainly due to the absence of central control over the electricity distribution network.

The writer is a senior reporter at The News.