PEPCO owes Rs185bn to oil, gas companies, IPPs: officials

LAHORE: The total amount that the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has to pay to various entities stands at Rs185 billion against total receivables of Rs196 billion, company officials said on Tuesday.

This payable amount on part of the company makes it inactive to buy the fuel for its power plants, which would ultimately result in closure of power plants leading to further rise in electricity shortage and power outages, they said.

Currently the AES Pakgen (350MW) power plant is shut and Saba Power is near closure for want of fuel. Official record of PEPCO available with The News on Tuesday shows that the company has to pay Rs18.4 billion to the different gas companies at present. On 1st of March the amount was Rs18.1bn and only Rs900 million were given to the gas companies in the month of March.

PEPCO owes Rs6bn to Mari Gas, Rs4bn to PPL, Rs2bn to SNGPL and Rs6bn to SSGC at present. In the oil sector, PEPCO owes Rs23bn to PSO and Rs2bn to Attock Petroleum Limited. PSO dues were Rs25bn on March 1, around Rs4 billion were paid during the month, but no money was paid to APL and its debt lies at Rs2bn at present.

Company record shows that PEPCO owes Rs91bn to the Independent Power Producers (IPPs). The amount was Rs87.5 billion on 1st of March and there was an addition of Rs27bn in the March and the company had paid Rs24bn to the IPPs in March.

PEPCO owes Rs37bn to HUBCO. The amount was Rs38bn in the start of March and the company paid a total of Rs5bn to HUBCO during the month. Due to this debt, the respective IPP would not be in a position to pay the money to the oil refineries and PSO and so the PSO and the refineries won’t be able to pay to the importers. A continuous stall in the supply of oil is seen due to this circular debt, PEPCO officials explained.

Similarly, PEPCO owes Rs25bn to KAPCO. The amount was Rs21bn on March 1st and there was an addition of Rs7bn in the bill during the month, and PEPCO paid 4bn to KAPCO during March 2010.

Moreover, PEPCO owes Rs42bn to WAPDA for buying hydropower. PEPCO has a receivable amount of Rs196bn from different corners and a large chunk of this money is absolutely unlikely to be paid to the company because of the complexities of the power sector.

A major chunk of the PEPCO receivables, Rs53bn, is due on Karachi Electric Supply Company. The Federaly Administered Tribal Areas owe Rs400 million to PEPCO, all provincial governments owe a total sum of Rs28bn, Federal Government and its various institutions owe Rs2.5bn, Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Rs3bn and the general public owes Rs96bn to PEPCO.