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 recurring outages, according to residents and power distribution officials.
The situation has escalated in regions served by Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco), Faisalabad (Fesco) and Gujranwala (Gepco), as the gap between electricity supply and demand widens.
Consumers in several districts say outages are frequent, largely without warning and increasingly prolonged, raising concerns about planning and transparency in the power sector.
“We can’t even sleep at night due to load shedding these days,” said Sharafat, a resident of Bahawalpur, who reported outages lasting 12 to 16 hours daily. Similar complaints emerged from Bahawalnagar, Kasur, Sahiwal and other districts.
In Burewala, Zubair Ahmad said power cuts lasted six to eight hours a day. Faisalabad residents reported around four hours of blackouts in urban areas, while Lahore consumers reported three to four hours of load shedding daily, with longer outages in nearby rural areas.
Khaleeq, from rural Kasur, said the outages in his area had lasted between five and eight hours. “No one from the electric company tells us the real situation,” he said.
Distribution company officials say the deficit has increased sharply during peak hours. In the Lesco region, demand has exceeded 3,100 megawatts against an allocation of approximately 2,300 MW, leaving a shortfall of more than 800 MW in recent days.
A Lesco spokesman acknowledged an increase in complaints but rejected claims of widespread load loss in Lahore, attributing the outages to maintenance work and selective shutdowns at high-loss feeders.
“In these areas, load shedding is considered a matter of policy 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 occurring on an hourly basis in some locations.
Energy analysts and sector observers have raised broader concerns, arguing that Pakistan’s installed generation capacity should be sufficient to meet current demand. They wonder why extensive load management is applied despite this capability.
Some analysts say that even in the absence of liquefied natural gas (LNG), blackouts of such duration should not be necessary, particularly in urban centers.
“The system has enough installed capacity to meet basic demand,” said one analyst, adding that recurring outages point more to operational or political decisions than to an absolute shortage of generation.
Petroleum Division officials say gas supplies to power plants have been drastically reduced and LNG cargoes will not be available until early May. As a result, gas-fired generation has decreased, limiting the output of thermal plants.
Currently, only a limited amount of indigenous gas is being diverted to the power sector, although officials expect supplies to improve in May.
Separately, the Energy Division has cited reduced hydroelectric production as a key factor behind the shortfall, saying lower water releases from dams have significantly reduced generation during peak hours.
According to official estimates, the national electricity deficit has ranged between 4,500 and 6,500 MW in recent days, depending on demand levels.
