ISLAMABAD  -  The electricity drawl by Ex-Wapda power distribution companies (XWDiscos) from national grid is on continuous decline and recorded a reduction of upto 19 percent during the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year.

Against the total reference drawl of electricity of 41,762 GWh, for the first quarter (July to September) of FY2024-25, Discos have used an average 10.85 percent less electricity or 37, 232 GWh, official data revealed. According to the data, Discos have drawl less electricity from 4 percent to 19 percent during the first three months of the ongoing fiscal year.

Quetta Electricity Supply Company was worst with 18.99 percent drawl, followed by Multan Electric Power Company with 15.76 percent, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company 14.48 percent less drawl, Peshawar Electric Supply Company 14.47 percent less, Lahore Electric Supply Company by 8.41 percent, Tribal Electric Supply Company by 7.37 percent and Gujranwala Electric Power Company by 6.14 percent. The actual drawl against the reference by Sukkur Electric Power Company, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company, Islamabad Electric Supply Company declined by 5.62 percent, 4.54 percent and 4.02 percent respectively during the first three months of FY2024-25, the data revealed.

The highest decline in drawl by the Discos was recorded during the month of August, where it was down by 20.44 percent from the reference 15,160 GWh to actual 12,061 GWh. The decline in drawl by Discos is due to various factors, including decline in demand, as more consumers are switching to solar, and carrying commercial based loadshedding by the distribution companies.

Notably, the electricity generation has declined by 5.43 percent during the first four months (July-October) of the ongoing fiscal year 2024-25. Although, the power generation in October 2024 increased by 7 percent to 10,262 GWh from 9,572GWh during the same month last year, however, in comparison with the generation of 12,487 GWh, in September 2024, it declined by almost 18 percent.