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Editorial: Pakistan Goes Dark

There is no quick fix for all that ails the country’s power sector and this week’s nationwide blackout is unlikely to be the last

by Editorial

Rizwan Tabassum—AFP

Pakistan suffered one of its worst-ever power outages earlier this week, as the electricity grid shut down for nearly 24 hours amidst confusion over the reasons behind it. The Energy Ministry was unable to explain what caused the breakdown, with Minister Khurram Dastgir-Khan saying a probe is underway—as ordered by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif—but, while unlikely, the role of “external” sabotage cannot be ruled out. The outage caused an estimated Rs. 100 in losses to various industries amidst an economic crisis worsened by a stalled International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout over the government’s unwillingness to implement the lender’s harsh conditionalities.

Dastgir-Khan, in a press interaction, explained that the outage had been caused by a “frequency variation and voltage fluctuation” in Sindh that had then spread nationwide. He went on to say that some power plants were shut down overnight as an “economic measure” and the fluctuations had been triggered when they turned back on in the morning. The electricity supply started to be restored after roughly 12 hours, though it took up to and over 24 hours in some far-flung areas. Unfortunately, this was the second major grid failure in three months, though the last one—in October—was smaller in scale and had been fixed in less than 12 hours.

Even after the power was restored, “load-shedding” continued over the next 48 hours, as coal and nuclear power plants were gradually restored to full capacity. Winter traditionally results in lower electricity consumption in Pakistan, and the government’s inability to ensure uninterrupted supply during even this time is indicative of deeper problems, with Dastgir-Khan admitting that the country’s transmission system is outdated and needs to be upgraded in the medium-term to avoid future blackouts.

Unfortunately, Pakistan—despite claims by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar—is in a dire economic situation and lacks the funds needed for infrastructure rehabilitation. The country, while touting its status as a nuclear power, can barely afford to pay salaries of employees and has no choice but to go hat-in-hand to the IMF despite knowing the inflationary wave that will worsen the lives of a population already half-seduced by the charisma of Imran Khan.

Concerns are now mounting over how Pakistan will deal during summer when demand often outpaces supply. Due to weak governance, energy sector mismanagement and lack of investment in power generation, some months see supply fall 32 percent short of demand. This is a crisis from which there is no immediate exit, but the political situation is such that no government can expect the suffering population to be understanding of the crisis facing Pakistan.

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