Lahore: Unscheduled load shedding returns with a vengeance

[LRE]

Unscheduled load shedding returns with a vengeance

* PEPCO has ordered LESCO to resort to load shedding only if necessary *DHA resident believes LESCO deliberately uses load shedding to frustrate the population

By Hasan Ali

LAHORE: After providing relief to the masses for a brief period, the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) has once again started unscheduled load shedding.

A LESCO official, seeking anonymity, told Daily Times on Friday that as the weather had changed again and the temperature risen, LESCO had been forced to resort to unscheduled load shedding.

“The National Power Control Centre (NPCC) has asked LESCO to manage load shedding properly, in accordance with the relevant grid station that is suffering from a high load,” he said, adding that the company has no need to follow the schedule as the Ministry of Water and Power has ordered all distribution companies to refrain from load shedding because the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has been generating enough electricity to meet the demands.

They said that currently PEPCO has been facing a shortage of more than 1,000MW, adding that it may increase with the rise of temperature. The official said that the schedule which had been originally announced for Ramazan has been cancelled as PEPCO is not suffering from a very large shortage, as the recent change in the weather has resulted in the masses switching off their air conditioners.

PEPCO: He said that PEPCO has asked LESCO to monitor the load at all grid stations of the city, adding that LESCO had been directed to only cut off the electricity if any grid was facing an overload.

Claim: Salman Abbas, a resident of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), alleged that PEPCO and LESCO have been resorting to load shedding deliberately to annoy the masses as the quarters concerned have sufficient electricity to meet the nation’s demand.

“In the past, these authorities were doing about six hours of load shedding, and separate unscheduled load shedding also, during that a time that the weather had been pleasant but no relief was provided to the masses,” he said, adding that since Asif Ali Zardari had become the president the ‘crisis’ was over and the people had been provided with relief for almost a week, but now unscheduled load shedding has once again begun.

PEPCO Energy Management and Conservation Director General Tahir Basharat Cheema said that the there was no load shedding across the city, as PEPCO has ordered LESCO to only switch off the electricity in those areas where there was excessive load.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg13_1