ISLAMABAD, SEP 20: The federal government on Sunday sought Request for Proposals (RFPs) for Pakistan’s first electricity wheeling auction under the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM), as the energy minister announced that the government would no longer buy power.
In a televised address in Islamabad, Federal Minister for Energy Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said that the government was moving out of electricity purchases to enable direct transactions between producers and consumers.
“The government is practically exiting electricity purchases from today,” he added.
His announcement comes days after the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) approved uniform Use of System Charges (UoSC) for open-access bulk electricity consumers, allowing eligible users to choose their power suppliers.
According to Leghari, 400 megawatts of electricity is being offered in the first phase, with plans to auction 800MW over the next five years.
He said that businesses and industries would be able to purchase electricity from power plants on a competitive basis under the new system.
“Nobody will have the right to sell electricity to the government, nor will the government be able to purchase it,” he added.
According to the minister, the system would initially apply to industrial and other large consumers, with consumers using more than one megawatt eligible in the first phase.
He said an electricity market would develop in the coming years, allowing even ordinary consumers to eventually purchase electricity according to their choice.
“The government will no longer be able to purchase electricity and forcibly sell it to the public at its own rates,” the minister added.
He said that cheaper electricity would help Pakistani industries remain competitive in global markets and enable them to export their products.
At present, the government purchases electricity through a centralised system and supplies it to consumers, he said, adding that questions had long been raised about the terms and conditions governing electricity purchases.
“The name of IPPs [independent power producers] has become notorious today,” the minister said.
In a separate post on X, the energy minister said that the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government practically implemented the decades-old commitment of the previous governments.
“Suppliers and consumers of power can now transact with each other. No more buying of power by the government, no more IPPs,” he wrote in the post sharing the public notice inviting RFPs for the 400MW wheeling auction.
