Why electricity is so expensive in Pakistan
Why does Pakistan pay Rs 58 per unit? Discover the real reasons behind soaring electricity costs
Laiba Zainab
Correspondent
Laiba Zainab is an award-winning journalist with nearly a decade of experience in digital media. She has received the DW & CEJ-IBA Data Journalism Award and the top digital media prize at the National Media Fellowship. At NUKTA, she covers underreported stories on health, crime, and social justice.
Why is electricity so expensive in Pakistan? Why do consumers pay Rs 58 per unit while countries like India pay significantly less? Can Pakistan ever achieve affordable electricity, or are high bills here to stay?
In this episode, Abbas Hasan, Director Project Coordination at King Salman Energy Park (SPARK), a Saudi Aramco subsidiary, explains the real reasons behind Pakistan's power crisis.
From Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and imported fuel dependence to Thar coal, rooftop solar, net metering, and load shedding, this conversation breaks down the biggest challenges facing Pakistan's energy sector—and the reforms needed to bring electricity prices down. In this episode:
- Why electricity costs Rs 58 per unit in Pakistan
- Why India pays significantly less for power
- The truth about IPPs and capacity payments
- Why line losses aren't the only reason for expensive electricity
- How the 2015 Power Policy changed Pakistan's energy sector
- Why Thar coal wasn't fully utilised
- Net metering vs. net billing explained
- Why rooftop solar is changing Pakistan's electricity market
- Can Pakistan realistically eliminate load shedding?
- The roadmap to cheaper electricity
Whether you're struggling with rising electricity bills, interested in Pakistan's economy, or want to understand the country's energy future, this episode explains the issues in simple, easy-to-understand language.
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