LESCO refunds Rs. 80 Billion to consumers, Senate committee told

LAHORE: The Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) has refunded Rs. 80 billion to consumers after overbilling, the Senate Standing Committee on Power Division was told on Friday.

Minister of Power Division Awais Leghari informed the committee that efforts are being made to introduce smaller reductions of Rs. 0.20 in electricity tariffs. He assured that positive developments are expected in the coming weeks, with no violation of agreements at the government level.

The Committee which met with Mohsin Aziz in the Chair discussed a point of public importance raised by Senator Palwasha Muhammad Zai Khan regarding the overbilling of electricity bills and the indifference of officers/officials to the plight of consumers.

The minister briefed the senate committee on the ongoing discussions with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to reduce their profits.

He said that a task force is reviewing the operations of power plants to determine which should remain active and which should be closed, adding that the task force is also reviewing state-owned power plants and is closely examining issues related to furnace oil and coal rates in the market.

While emphasizing the need to address electricity theft and overbilling, Senator Mohsin Aziz in the Chair, directed the Power Division to provide clarity in their reports, noting inconsistencies in their responses regarding the number of Bagasse-based IPPs operating in the country and their tariff determination.

The committee urged the Ministry to cross-check Bagasse pricing and explain why this issue arose in 2013 and 2015.

Chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) acknowledged that a framework for bagasse and biomass was introduced in 2013, but no mechanism exists to determine its price. The committee called for an immediate review of the issue.