The government plans to introduce a loadshedding management system that tracks electricity at the transformer level, with the aim of curbing power theft and managing load across the country in phases. Minister for Energy (Power Division) Awais Leghari outlined the plan at a ceremony in Dera Ghazi Khan on Monday. A pilot is to start in Lahore and Kasur soon, and loadshedding will continue on feeders reporting losses of 30 percent or higher.
How the system is meant to work
The system is formally called the Asset Performance Management System (APMS), though it is also described as the Advanced Power Management System. It will be installed on transformers of various capacities that are currently placed on poles. Existing meters will be replaced with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meters, and the APMS will be linked to them to monitor consumption in real time, with two-way communication and remote cutoff capability.
An official explained the logic with an example: if a transformer serving 200 consumers receives 100,000 units but the consumers use fewer, the difference points to theft. A feeder can cover 2,000 to 3,000 consumers or more, so narrowing the search from a feeder to a transformer serving 150 to 200 consumers would make thieves easier to find. An official at the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) said the device would report theft and line losses to officials automatically, and that a tampered smart meter would also alert the system.
Why the plan targets feeders
The Power Division's current policy applies loadshedding, both scheduled and forced, to loss-making 11kV feeders in categories 1 to 5. Areas served by category 1 feeders get two hours, rising to four, six, eight and 10 hours for categories 2 to 5. The official said paying consumers on those feeders suffer for the theft of others, and the loadshedding management system is meant to limit cuts to the transformers where theft happens. The Power Planning and Monitoring Company (PPMC), the technical arm of the Power Division, is supporting planning and design across the distribution companies, known as Discos.
What happens next
An official at Lesco said work is underway on the pilot in Lahore and Kasur, and that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to inaugurate it soon. The rollout will be gradual, and no date has been given for a wider national launch. Until the pilot results are known, the practical effect for consumers on other feeders remains unclear.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Hukumat bijli chori rokne ke liye loadshedding management system (APMS) lane wi hai, jo transformers par lagay ga aur smart meters se jora jaye ga. Pehle yeh Lahore aur Kasur mein pilot ke taur par chalay ga. Jin feeders ka nuqsan 30 percent ya us se zyada hai, wahan loadshedding jari rahegi. Bill dene wale consumers ko dusron ki chori ki wajah se loadshedding nahi jhelni chahiye, yeh system isi maqsad ke liye hai.
