SHC orders SSGC to supply required gas to K-Electric
The court instructed Sui Southern Gas to supply 276 MMCFD of gas to K-Electric, and ordered K-Electric to pay outstanding bills immediately
April 17, 2018
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday ordered Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to supply 276 MMCFD of gas to K-Electric to resolve the load-shedding crisis in the city.
K-Electric, the sole power utility company in Karachi, had taken SSGC to court over the issue of non-supply of gas. K-Electric has blamed the load-shedding crisis on the lack of gas supply from SSGC. The gas supplier, on the other hand, maintains that K-Electric has repeatedly failed to pay its bills.
The SHC instructed SSGC to supply the required quantity of gas to K-Electric, and ordered K-Electric to pay the outstanding bills immediately.
The court also ordered the two companies to put together a mechanism to resolve the payments dispute, and summoned a progress report on the matter till May 3.
Earlier today, a committee constituted by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to probe the load-shedding crisis submitted its report to authorities, in which it found the primary cause of load-shedding to be K-Electric’s failure to operate power plants on oil.
According to the power regulator, K-Electric is being provided with 60 MMCFD of gas in the current month, as compared to 50 MMCFD in April 2017.
K-Electric, in a statement, said it was only receiving 90 MMCFD of gas despite the SHC’s directives to SSGC to provide 276 MMCFD of gas.
A notification issued by NEPRA further said that the Bin Qasim I Power Plant was operated on less capacity from March 27 till April 10. The plant, which has the capacity to produce 1015MW, had only generated 647MW.
The incomplete repair and maintenance of the K-Electric power plants had also resulted in the power outages, said the notification.
