ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has expressed serious concern over the performance of the National Grid Company (NGC), formerly known as NTDC, and has urged the Chairman of its Board of Directors to intervene directly to ensure compliance with recommendations issued in NEPRA’s Performance Evaluation Report (PER), sources told Newzshewz.
NEPRA Chairman Waseem Mukhtar—known for his generally lenient stance—has formally written to Chairman of the NGC Board, Dr. Fiaz Chaudhary, highlighting the continued non-compliance by the transmission entity with NEPRA’s directives as laid out in the Performance Evaluation Report for FY 2023–24.
According to sources, despite repeated instructions, reminders, and letters—beginning with NEPRA’s initial letter dated January 15, 2025, and a follow-up on March 13, 2025—the NGC has consistently failed to implement the required actions or submit detailed compliance and progress reports.
Chairman Mukhtar noted with “grave concern” that instead of submitting the mandated report within the given timeframe, NGC once again resorted to its routine practice of requesting a three-week extension. This pattern of delay, he observed, reflects a broader issue of “irresponsible behavior, deliberate delay tactics, and poor management.”
“In view of the foregoing,” Chairman NEPRA wrote, “I urge the Chairman of the National Grid Company to personally intervene and issue strict instructions to the relevant departments to immediately submit the required report.” He warned that failure to comply may result in legal proceedings against the organization’s top leadership under the NEPRA Act and relevant rules and regulations.
Meanwhile, NEPRA Member (Technical), Rafique Ahmad Shaikh, in an additional note attached to the determination of Distribution Companies’ Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) for April 2025, criticized the persistently low utilization of the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission infrastructure.
According to Shaikh, the HVDC line operated at an average of only 38% capacity (1,534 MW) in April 2025 despite full-capacity payments—highlighting significant inefficiencies at NGC. The root cause is a persistent South-to-North transmission constraint, which he emphasized must be urgently addressed to improve system efficiency and reduce financial losses.
Originally scheduled for commissioning in April 2025, the Lahore North Grid Station has now been delayed to October 2025. This deferral extends the burden on consumers, as the underutilized transmission corridor continues to cause avoidable financial losses. In April alone, such constraints led to losses of Rs 953 million (USD 3.39 million), bringing the cumulative figure for FY2024–25 to Rs 13.270 billion (USD 47.22 million).
Shaikh also noted that the Thar coal-based power plants—Thar Energy Limited and ThalNova—operated at average utilizations of 75% and 71%, respectively. Given the fixed cost component in Thar coal’s pricing, maximizing dispatch from these plants is essential to reduce the overall cost of generation.
Starting from the next FCA hearing, NEPRA has directed that the System Operator and NGC must present a comprehensive update that includes covering outages of economical power plants, the resulting financial impact, and reliance on out-of-merit generation. The update should also include the status of identified system constrain, progress made, revised completion timelines, and associated financial implications.
Ends
