ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has imposed a Rs25 million fine on the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) for failing to reduce transmission and distribution losses and improve recovery during the fiscal year 2023–24, media reported.
In its decision, NEPRA directed LESCO to deposit the fine within 15 days, citing serious inefficiencies and non-compliance with performance targets.
According to the regulator, LESCO’s system losses rose by 4.04%, reaching 15.92% during the fiscal year, resulting in an estimated Rs47.6 billion loss to the national exchequer.
NEPRA stated that it had issued a show-cause notice to LESCO after observing the discrepancies, but the company failed to provide a satisfactory explanation or evidence to justify its performance.
The authority noted that despite repeated directives to curb line losses and enhance recovery, LESCO continued to underperform, causing a significant financial burden on the power sector.
Similarly, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) imposed a Rs25 million fine on K-Electric (KE) over its operational failures during the nationwide power breakdown in January 2023.
Nepra directed K-Electric to deposit the fine within 15 days, following a detailed inquiry into KE’s failure to prevent or adequately respond to the power outage.
The regulator found KE responsible for deficiencies within its own power system, rejecting the company’s explanations as unsatisfactory and unacceptable.
According to Nepra, K-Electric failed to justify internal faults and operational errors and could not shift the entire blame onto the National Grid.
The authority also pointed to KE’s ineffective Black Start capability—a critical system designed to restore power generation independently of the national grid during a blackout. Despite prior drills, the Black Start system failed during the actual emergency, Nepra noted.
“Technical flaws in KE’s Black Start plants remained unresolved, and repeated trippings during the blackout exposed the ineffectiveness of existing safety mechanisms,” the regulator added. –Agencies
