Why bringing back industrial demand can save economy
Electricity tariffs for Pakistan’s industries are broken. Right now, industrial users are paying around Rs 32–34 per unit (12 cents). That’s down from 14–15cents earlier, but still way too high.
Industry has been asking for 9 cents (Rs 26). People think this is impossible. It’s not. The math is simple. All it needs is to be broken down and addressed individually.
Capacity charges are fixed. They don’t go away by wishful thinking. The only way to dilute them is to increase demand. More industrial demand -more units sold - lower per-unit capacity burden. Every serious grid operator knows this. Pakistan keeps inventing new schemes, but none of them matters if demand isn’t there. Solar just keeps getting added behind the meter.
Peak/off-peak adds about Rs 1.5 per kWh to industrial costs. ISMO data shows it’s backwards: you’re charging more when power is cheap and charging less when it’s expensive. This is completely insane. Removing it saves Rs 1.5 instantly, fixes Disco losses, and ends forced shutdowns that strand capacity.
B3 and B4 users invest billions in their own........
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