The Prime Minister has constituted an eight-member Task Force under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Power, Sardar Awais Khan Leghari, to implement structural reforms in the power sector.
A notification issued by the PM’s office on Sunday stated that the Prime Minister has decided to form a task force to identify and oversee the implementation of structural reforms in the power sector. The goal is to reduce the financial burden on the federal government and to establish an efficient, liquid, and self-sustaining competitive power market.
The Federal Minister for Power will serve as the chairman of the task force, while Special Assistant to the PM on Power, Muhammad Ali, will be the co-chair.
The other members of the task force include Lt Gen Muhammad Zafar Iqbal (National Coordinator), Grade 21 Secretariat group officer Syed Zakaria Ali Shah, and nominees from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, Central Power Purchase Agency, Private Power and Infrastructure Board, and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
The task force may engage and seek records, information, or assistance from local and international consultant firms, bankers, legal advisors, chartered accountancy firms, and other organizations or individuals as deemed necessary.
The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Task Force include recommending measures to make the power sector financially and operationally sustainable, overseeing the development and implementation of an efficient and liquid power market design, and recommending the utilization of excess capacity by industries and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to stimulate growth.
The task force will also recommend measures to reduce capacity payments, including but not limited to shutting down certain plants and taking other necessary actions as deemed appropriate.
Additionally, the task force will review the setup costs of various Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the country, identify malpractices, procedural weaknesses, and regulatory gaps, and recommend a way forward.
The task force will review the compliance of IPPs with the parameters and conditions of various agreements signed with government agencies and recommend measures to resolve the issue of circular debt stock in the energy sector.
The task force shall submit its recommendations along with an implementation plan for the Prime Minister’s consideration within one month.
