Pakistan in Media

Editorial, Dawn, Pakistan
Saturday, 16 May, 2009

ELECTRICITY consumers have been facing tough times for more than three years now. The increasing duration of loadshedding, coupled with inflated power bills, have done little to bolster the people’s faith in official claims that the government has taken steps to eliminate loadshedding before the end of 2009. A report carried by this newspaper on Friday said the power supply situation in the country was worsening with the rising temperatures. Loadshedding has suddenly jumped to seven to eight hours with daily demand peaking at 14,300 megawatts as air-conditioners are switched on. Compare this demand to the total generation of 11,400 megawatts. Though the current demand–supply gap of 2,900 megawatts remains much below last year’s deficit of 4,400 megawatts because of improved hydel generation, it is feared that the situation could worsen in the coming days and weeks with a further rise in temperatures.

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