Lahore: Due to the tight natural gas supply and other restrictive factors leading to low power generation, the electricity supply in the province’s metropolis was hit on Tuesday.

Facing the high power demand in hot weather, the Lahore Electricity Supply Company (Lesco) has taken more load shedding measures than the power company announced a few days ago. Lesco announced a 7-hour load reduction in its latest load management plan released between June 25 and July 5, 2021. However, consumers complain that utility companies suspend power supply even in areas with low power loss, otherwise they will be exempt from load shedding.

“On Tuesday, the electricity supply in my area was interrupted several times,” said Javed, a resident of Model Town Extension. He said that in addition to the power outage for about half an hour in the morning, there was a power outage for an entire hour from 5:15 to 6:15 in the afternoon.

An official admitted that there were more power outages in Lesco area than the company announced a few days ago. However, he accused the central system operated by the National Power Control Center (NPCC) of shutting down electricity directly, because an imbalance between supply and demand could cause the national grid to paralyze. According to Lesco’s revised load management plan, the power supply will be shut down for two hours in the loss area of ​​20% to 30%. The feeder is being interrupted for 5 hours, with a loss of 30-40%, while 40-60% of the area is experiencing power outages for 7 hours. On the other hand, the independent steelmaking furnace industry faces load reduction from 2 to 6 pm every day.