ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Sunday invited bids for Pakistan's first electricity wheeling auction under the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM), as the energy minister announced the government would no longer purchase power.
In a televised address in Islamabad, Federal Minister for Energy Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said the government was exiting electricity purchases to allow direct transactions between producers and consumers.
"The government is practically exiting electricity purchases from today," he said.
The announcement came days after the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority approved uniform Use of System Charges for open-access bulk electricity consumers, allowing eligible users to choose their power suppliers.
Leghari said 400 megawatts of electricity is being offered in the first phase, with plans to auction 800MW over the next five years. Businesses and industries would be able to purchase electricity from power plants on a competitive basis under the new system, he said.
"Nobody will have the right to sell electricity to the government, nor will the government be able to purchase it," he said.
The system would initially apply to industrial and other large consumers, with those using more than one megawatt eligible in the first phase, according to the minister. He said an electricity market would develop in the coming years, allowing ordinary consumers to eventually purchase electricity according to their choice.
"The government will no longer be able to purchase electricity and forcibly sell it to the public at its own rates," Leghari said, adding that cheaper electricity would help Pakistani industries remain competitive in global markets and export their products.
At present, the government purchases electricity through a centralized system and supplies it to consumers, he said, noting that questions had long been raised about the terms and conditions governing those purchases.
"The name of IPPs [independent power producers] has become notorious today," the minister said.
In a separate post on X, Leghari said the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had practically implemented a decades-old commitment of previous governments.
"Suppliers and consumers of power can now transact with each other. No more buying of power by the government, no more IPPs," he wrote, sharing the public notice inviting proposals for the 400MW wheeling auction.
