ISLAMABAD, AUGUST 5: To achieve structural changes in the electricity industry, the Prime Minister has formed an eight-member Task Force, which will be chaired by Federal Minister for electricity Sardar Awais Khan Leghari.
The PM has decided to form a task force to identify and supervise the implementation of structural reforms in the power sector in order to lessen the financial burden currently bearing on the federal government and to facilitate the development of an effective, liquid, and self-sustaining competitive power market, according to a notification released by the PM office on Sunday.
The task force on electricity sector will be co-chaired by Special Assistant to PM on electricity Muhammad Ali and chaired by the Federal Minister of Power.
The task force will also include Lt Gen Muhammad Zafar Iqbal (National Coordinator), Syed Zakaria Ali Shah, a group officer of the Grade 21 Secretariat, and nominees from the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the Central Power Purchase Agency, the Private Power and Infrastructure Board, and the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority.
When it is judged essential, the task force may interact with and request documents, information, or support from national and international consulting companies, bankers, attorneys, chartered accountancy firms, and other entities or people.
The Task Force’s Term of Reference calls for measures to make the power sector financially and operationally sustainable, supervision of the creation and execution of a liquid and efficient power market design, and recommendations regarding the use of excess capacity by industries and special economic zones (SEZs) to spur growth.
The task group will suggest actions to lower capacity payments, such as, but not limited to, closing certain plants and implementing other required actions as judged suitable.
In order to suggest a course of action, it will also examine issues pertaining to the establishment of fees for different IPPs around the nation and uncover malpractices, procedural flaws, and regulatory gaps.
