ISLAMABAD: Minister for Power Division Awais Ahmad Leghari informed the National Assembly on Thursday that more than 2,000 feeders across the country are currently experiencing loadshedding exceeding 10 hours a day.
During the Question-Hour in the National Assembly, the minister stated in a written reply to a question that out of 12,665 feeders nationwide, over 2,000 are subjected to more than 10 hours of power outages.
The House was informed that the Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) has 604 out of its 814 feeders facing loadshedding of over 10 hours. Similarly, Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO) has 407 out of 707 feeders affected. According to the data shared, 174 out of 357 feeders under the Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company (TESCO) and 642 out of 1,376 feeders under the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) are experiencing outages exceeding 10 hours daily.
Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) has 322 out of 747 feeders under prolonged load-shedding, while Hazara Electric Supply Company has 37 out of 286 feeders facing similar outages. In contrast, no feeder under LESCO, IESCO, GEPCO, and FESCO is undergoing loadshedding beyond 10 hours.
The minister further stated that between July and December 2025, electricity consumers used 8.780711 billion units of electricity. The total number of consumers under 11 distribution companies stands at 39.22 million. The number of protected consumers across the country has reached 21.55 million, compared to 9.5 million in October 2021. The House was also informed that by December 2025, the country’s net metering capacity had reached 7,000 megawatts, while off-grid solar capacity stood at 12.62 megawatts. Highlighting financial losses, the written reply stated that transmission and distribution losses have exceeded Rs600 billion over the past two years. In fiscal year 2024-25, losses amounted to Rs284 billion, compared to Rs322 billion in fiscal year 2023-24. Among the distribution companies, PESCO recorded transmission losses of Rs96 billion, followed by QESCO with Rs51 billion, LESCO Rs46 billion, SEPCO Rs37 billion, and HESCO Rs22 billion, the reply added.
While in a written reply to another question of Dr Sharmila Faraqui, the Power Division told the National assembly that the number of protected consumers increased from about 9.5 million in October 2021, when the protected category was introduced, to approximately 21.55 million by June 2025. However, the inference that 12.53 million households in the 101-200 kWh slab use an average consumption of only 26 kWh per month is incorrect, as consumers move in and out of the protected category throughout the year depending on their monthly usage.
As of December 2025, the installed net-metering capacity has reached 7,000 MW, while off-grid solar capacity is estimated at approximately 12.629 MW based on a GIS-based assessment and both residential and commercial solar meters are included in the above estimates and data.
