Pakistan is developing a virtual grid system to let consumers generate and store electricity, Power Minister Awais Leghari announced on Wednesday. The government also plans to shift power outages from entire feeders to individual transformers to curb electricity theft and protect regular bill payers.
The federal government is reshaping its power sector strategy to counter widespread theft, line losses, and surging fuel expenses. Speaking to journalists at Parliament House and before a National Assembly committee, Federal Minister for Power Awais Leghari outlined sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing infrastructure and expanding energy storage across the country.
Virtual Power Grids and the Upcoming Battery Revolution
Authorities have initiated work on regulatory frameworks to introduce a virtual grid system that enables consumers to generate and store their own electricity. Regulators expect to finalize these new rules by the last quarter of the current fiscal year.
Power distribution companies have received explicit directives to install batteries across their grids to bolster network reliability and build domestic storage capacity. A battery revolution is coming to Pakistan as the government seeks to promote battery use and introduce a virtual grid system, Leghari told reporters, emphasizing that the state’s primary objective is expanding energy storage in the power sector.
The push toward storage coincides with high demand for net metering applications. According to the government, changes to the net metering system have successfully encouraged consumers to adopt battery storage solutions, shielding the broader population from carrying the financial weight of a smaller group of users. We have stopped the burden of three to four lakh people from being placed on the remaining 35 million consumers, Leghari said.
Addressing prolonged power outages during a National Assembly Standing Committee on Power meeting chaired by Muhammad Idrees, Leghari acknowledged that disruptions currently affect about 3,500 of the nation’s 14,500 electricity feeders.
Authorities attribute these outages primarily to electricity theft and network line losses. To minimize collateral damage for honest citizens, the government intends to shift outages from the feeder level to the transformer level within a year.
The infrastructure overhaul involves deploying an automated on-off control system for approximately 190,000 electricity transformers. This mechanism will allow authorities to disconnect only the specific transformer tied to theft or non-compliance, leaving neighboring consumers who regularly pay their utility bills with uninterrupted service.
Leghari maintained that no extra load-shedding is currently underway nationwide, noting that existing disruptions stem mainly from faults caused by system overloading. Upgrading the network requires heavy capital expenditure, with formal approval to be sought from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra).
Strait of Hormuz Disruptions and Escalating Fuel Costs
The energy supply crunch is also tied to external geopolitical factors. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has hampered the Petroleum Division’s ability to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, forcing the state to rely more heavily on domestically produced gas for power generation.
Photo: Geo News
Explaining why nighttime load-shedding was implemented, Leghari pointed to spikes in global fuel expenses. The cost for a single gas cargo surged from approximately $30 million to over $95 million.
“Who will bear an additional electricity bill of Rs6 to Rs6.50 per unit?”
Awais Leghari, Power Minister
“We carried out load-shedding during peak hours to save fuel costs,”
Photo: DAWN
Awais Leghari, Power Minister
The minister also dismissed media reports suggesting the government had signed new agreements with independent power producers. Meanwhile, lawmakers expressed sharp frustration over persistent local outages and high utility prices during the committee proceedings.
PML-N MNA Rana Muhammad Hayat criticized the performance of distribution companies and argued that current government policies created the impression of serving international lenders rather than local citizens. What can the Discos do, minister sahab? You switch off the electricity, Hayat said during the session, prompting Leghari to counter that the lawmaker’s remarks were irresponsible for a legislative forum.
