Power companies’ poor performance costs Rs660bn to exchequer

The performance of electricity supply companies declined in 2023-24, resulting in a loss of over Rs660 billion to the national exchequer. This deterioration was attributed to increased inefficiencies, including high losses and low recovery rates. Additionally, most power plants in private and public sectors imposed an even greater, yet unquantifiable, burden on consumers and taxpayers. In its annual performance reports of the power sector, the National Electric Power Regu­latory Authority (Nepra), however, highlighted high standards and strong performance of the nuclear power plants. At the same time, the transmission system showed improvement but remained below expectations during 2023-24.