National and provincial legislators from Khyber PakhtunÂkhwa continued to forcefully enter grid stations and activate power supply on Thursday, despite warnings from the utility company about potential damage to the transmission infrastructure.
The provincial home and tribal affairs department has instructed district administrations to ensure no unplanned power cuts are implemented.
This is the latest episode in the ongoing dispute between KP and the federal government over loadshedding, which appeared to be settled last month but reignited this week when KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and several lawmakers stormed grid stations across the province during Eid holidays.
They turned on power to areas where Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) was conducting loadshedding due to high line losses.
Pesco has now written to the federal government cautioning that activating electricity for all high-loss feeders could potentially lead to a collapse of the power distribution system.
In a letter dated June 19 addressed to the Power Planning and Monitoring Company managing director, the Pesco CEO reported that elected representatives forcefully activated power supply to 99 feeders from 15 grid stations on June 18.
The letter noted another incident where 54 feeders from five grid stations were similarly activated the following day.
Pesco stressed the impossibility of sustaining such high-demand feeders without risking system collapse, warning of potential days-long power outages and equipment damage due to inexperienced handling.
Despite this warning, PTI lawmakers and their supporters entered three more grid stations in Peshawar the next day and restored power to 19 feeders.
Shandana Gulzar, MNA from Peshawar, and Samiullah Khan, MPA from the same area, were involved in these actions, according to Pesco.
They reinstated power to feeders with significant line losses despite protests from Pesco staff.
In response to these incidents, district administrations held meetings with Pesco and Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company (Tesco) to minimize unscheduled power cuts across KP, following directives from the provincial Home and Tribal Affairs Department.
Meetings were held in Mardan, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, and Lower Dir to address loadshedding concerns and ensure coordinated efforts to maintain electricity supply.
In Mardan, provincial Minister for Food Zahir Shah Toru warned Pesco against unannounced loadshedding during a meeting attended by local officials.
Similar meetings took place in Bannu, Lakki Marwat, and Lower Dir, emphasizing the need for transparent scheduling and fair bill recovery practices on feeders.
