An agreement was signed between Pukhtunkhwa Energy Development Organision (PEDO) and Power Division for the sale of 71 megawatt hydel power to WEAPDA and its induction into the national grid. From the sale proceeds the provincial government will get revenue of Rs. 2 billion. In the near future 200 megawatt additional hydel power will be inducted into the national grid. These additions of inexpensive hydel power will be merely throwing a single drop into the ocean keeping in view the highly expensive thermal power generation by the private power producers and its sale to WAPDA under the shady Power Purchase Agreements made by PPP and PML-N governments.
Khyber Pukhtunkhwa governments have always complained that the province is not getting its due share of electricity from the national distribution system. But at the same time neither the previous governments nor the incumbent one have shown seriousness to work out a plan for laying a transmission and distribution network at local and provincial levels to facilitate the provisioning of inexpensive hydel power generated by small power station to the domestic, commercial and industrial consumers. One of the major reasons of failure of the industrial policy of 2016 is sky-high power tariff. Occasionally, the provincial government does wave the lollypop of installing a provincial electricity transmission and distribution system and setting up a power distribution company in the shape of PESCO. It has not yet succeeded to provide hydel power to the industries in Gadoon Industrial Estate from the power station installed at Pehur high level canal. A workable provincial energy policy is needed to give impetus to the growth of provincial economy.
